In, Out, and Down
The Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy announced on Oct. 1 that Korea’s exports and imports decreased 8.3 percent and 21.8 percent month-on-month to US$43.5 billion and US$34.6 billion last month, respectively. Its trade balance remained in the black for the 44th consecutive month. Imports declined by more than 20 percent for the first time since Sept. 2009, when the rate of decrease amounted to 24.7 percent.
Such a rapid decrease can be attributed to plummeting oil prices. Last month, the Dubai crude oil price recorded an average of US$45.80 per barrel. The average price of petroleum products fell 55.9 percent, and the percentages reached 52.0 percent for crude oil, 35.7 percent for gas, and 22.5 percent when it comes to coal.
On the export side, the rate of decline was reduced from 14.9 to 8.3 percent between Aug. and Sept. Auto parts exports increased 5.0 percent, and consumer electronics exports increased 1.4 percent along with OLED (2.5 percent), solid state drives (7.0 percent) and cosmetics (43.7 percent). Meanwhile, automobiles (-1.5 percent), textiles (-9.7 percent), machinery (-10.3 percent), computers (-11.7 percent), flat panel displays (-13.0 percent), ships (-20.4 percent) and steel products (-21.6 percent) showed a decrease.
The exports to the E.U. region jumped by 19.7 percent, led by TVs (119.0 percent), ships (102.2 percent), synthetic resins (35.2 percent), auto parts (33.5 percent), semiconductors (23.2 percent) and automobiles (18.2 percent). Furthermore, the exports to Vietnam recorded a month-on-month increase of 26.9 percent, with Korean companies increasing their ratio of overseas production. Still, those to China, Japan and the United States declined.