Bank loaning Korean shipping industry $753 million

Report says the government will place orders for 200 vessels over the next three years.    The Export-Import Bank of Korea on Friday promised 800 billion won ($753 million) in loans and guarantees to the Korean shipping industry, reports Korea’s Yonhap News Agency.
   It said that at a meeting April 5 Eun Sang-soo, chairman of the state-run lender, had explained the program by saying, “The shipping and shipbuilding industries are both facing difficulties, raising the logistics cost for exporting firms. The five-year restructuring plan will strengthen the competitiveness of shipping companies, and when this leads to a positive cycle of creating demand for shipbuilders, such cost will be reduced.”
   Yonhap said Eun told the heads of shipping and shipbuilding companies the government would place orders for 200 vessels over the next three years to help the industry survive the slump in global demand and that aid will be provided for the purchasing of vessels, operational costs and loan refinancing