Korea's Mainstay Exports Dwindle
02 January, 2019
Ten out of 13 main exports decreased last month compared to a year earlier, with semiconductors suffering the first on-year fall in 27 months.
Total exports last year stood at US$605.5 billion, up 5.5 percent from the previous year, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Tuesday, surpassing W600 billion for the first time. Korea also posted a trade surplus of $70.5 billion largely due to brisk sales of semiconductors, general machinery and petrochemicals.
But shipments in December dropped 1.2 percent on-year to $48.46 billion after remaining steady at over $50 billion for seven months. The ministry attributed the decline to slowing growth in global trade.
Semiconductors, which accounted for a whopping 20.9 percent of last year's total shipments, fell 8.3 percent to $8.86 billion, due to easing of shortages and less investments by big IT companies in data centers, according to the ministry.
Shipments of petrochemical goods also fell 6.1 percent due to a price drop resulting from falling global oil prices and weak demand amid the trade war between the U.S and China.
Exports of mobile communication equipment including smartphones plunged 33.7 percent because of increasing overseas production and Chinese rivals' strong performance.
"Export conditions will be unfavorable in the new year due to sluggish growth in major countries and trade tensions between the U.S. and China, but we will make the utmost efforts to achieve $600 billion for the second consecutive year," trade minister Sung Yun-mo said during a visit to Busan port on Monday.
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