Business news about the extraction and commercial sale of deep-sea water in the Republic of Korea. The water is apparently desalinated and then used for high end commercial use, including manufacture of mineral water for domestic use and export. Deep-sea water is also used in commercial fisheries for raising fish. I've also decided to share a second news story which discusses the same commercial industry but in Hawaii. This second article includes good background material.
Peter Huston
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http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-06/19/content_8397707.htm
SK Gas to take over local deep-sea water supplier
www.chinaview.cn 2008-06-19 09:06:10 Print
SEOUL, June 19 (Xinhua) -- SK Gas Co. has signed a deal to take 67 percent of the stake in Ulleung Mineral Co., a deep-sea water supplier, to meet the growing high-end water demand in South Korea, local daily Korea Herald reported Thursday.
Cheong Kyung-hui of new business development at the South Korea's energy firm was quoted as saying on Wednesday that "We think water is another important resource to develop. The revenue is currently very petty, but we plan to expand sales channels further."
Deep-sea water is largely considered free of chemicals, pollutants and pathogens, but rich in minerals, attracting many South Korean consumers who are becoming more concerned of the quality of drinking water, said the English-language newspaper.
According to the daily, major beverage makers such as Lotte Chilsung and Dongwon have already set foot in the deep-sea water business seeking to extract the high mineral water from the East Sea where large amount of high quality water is considered to be embedded underground.
Currently in South Korea, a variety of deep sea-water products such as sports drinks, salts and cosmetics are selling in the market, the report added.
According to the estimation of some optimists, annual sale of deep-sea water products is expected to grow to 1 trillion won (990U.S. million dollars) in two years.
Acknowledging the growing demand, South Korea's National Assembly passed the law on developing deep-sea water last year to facilitate the investment and researches in the water reserves under the ocean floor.
Editor: Jiang Yuxia
http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080602/LIFE/806020309/1004
Asians love Hawaii's bottled deep-sea water
GREG WILES • The Honolulu Advertiser • June 2, 2008
HONOLULU - More than 19 tons of desalinated drinking water was exported from Hawaii to Japan and other countries in the first three months of this year as the market for deep-sea water from Hawaii continued to blossom.
Figures released by Foreign Trade Zone No. 9, one of 12 in Hawaii, show there was about a 16 percent increase in exports of the water overseas during the first quarter, with more than 38,000 pounds shipped to international locales.
Hawaii's deep-sea water business sprang up about five years ago and has for the most part enjoyed rapid growth as consumers in Asia seek out the drink, marketed as a natural, pathogen-free product drawn from thousands of feet below the ocean's surface.
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The Foreign Trade Zone statistics show total export sales of the water rose to $41.7 million last year, while first-quarter revenue totaled $9.69 million.
"I think some people were skeptical that the water companies would last," said Mark Anderson, deputy director of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. "I'm happy to see that they've been successful so far."
Anderson said Hawaii is a factor in that success since similar products drawn from waters off Japan do not have the association with the pristine image of water from the state.
"The water companies have been able to capitalize on that," he said.
For example, Koyo USA Corp. markets its MaHaLo Hawaii Deep Sea Water as being pumped from 3,000 feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, where the water "is safe from surface pollutants caused by industry, farming, chemicals or human waste" while brimming with essential minerals.
Koyo is one of a handful of water companies located or planning facilities at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority's ocean and science technology park at Keahole Point on the Big Island.
On Oahu, two companies have set up shop to draw water from 2,000 feet deep and several miles offshore. Deep Ocean Enterprises is desalinating and selling its Hawaii Deep Blue water in Honolulu, but is about to expand internationally, said Richard Paige, Deep Ocean president. He said the company is about to sign a contract for Asia.
"They're going to be wanting a lot of bottled water from us," said Paige. "We've got some huge opportunities overseas."
He said there is a certain cachet in selling water from Hawaii and that the company also markets the water as being sound environmentally because it isn't depleting water tables.
The company started production late last year and since its sales have only been in Hawaii, the numbers don't show up in the export data. Foreign Trade Zone numbers aren't representative of total industry revenue because sales here and on the Mainland aren't counted as exports.
AP-NY-05-30-08 1000EDT
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