South Korea’s exports last month suffered their biggest fall in six years, hit by weak global demand and falling prices, the South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said yesterday.
Exports plunged 14.7 percent from a year earlier to US$39.33 billion, the largest percentage fall since August 2009, when the comparable figure dipped 20.9 percent year-on-year.
It also represented the eighth consecutive month of decrease in exports.
Photo: Bloomberg
The ministry said exports would likely continue shrinking this month before seeing a slow recovery in the fourth quarter.
“Overall exports will likely continue dropping for the remainder of the third quarter, while shipments of semiconductors, mobile communication devices and other new products — such as OLED display panels and cosmetics — are expected to continue a positive growth,” the ministry said in a press statement.
“Exports are expected to improve from the start of the fourth quarter on an increase in deliveries of ships and launches of new cars,” the ministry added.
Low crude-oil prices resulted in falls in the prices of the nation’s petrochemical products, while shipments of offshore oil drilling plants were also affected, the ministry said.
Exports to China, South Korea’s largest trade partner, dropped 8.8 percent year-on-year, compared with a 6.4 percent fall the previous month, amid slowing demand in China aggravated by the giant explosions in the port city of Tianjin.
Exports to Japan slumped 24.4 percent and to the EU by 20.8 percent, while exports to the US declined 4.4 percent.
The performance of main export items from the fourth-largest economy in Asia was mixed. Exports of IT and telecom products surged 19 percent and semiconductors were up 4.7 percent, but ships plunged 51.4 percent, cars were down 9.1 percent, steel was down 17.4 percent and textiles were down 21.4 percent, the ministry said.
Imports last month dived 18.3 percent year-on-year to US$34.98 billion, leaving a US$4.35 billion trade surplus. The trade balance has been in the black since February 2012.
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