US$100 Billion Trade Surplus
The Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy announced on January 11 that Korea recorded US$264.7 billion in exports, US$159.7 billion in imports and US$105.1 billion in trade surplus last year in the material and component industry. The ratio of component and material exports to Korea’s total annual exports added up to 50.2% during the period.
In 2015, Korea’s component and material exports declined by 4.1% from a year ago while the total exports reached US$527.2 billion. The export of electronic components increased by 0.5% to US$93.71 billion, that of electrical and mechanical components gained 3.2% to US$24.54 billion and that of computer and office equipment components rose by 13.0% to US$5.11 billion. Meanwhile, those of general, precision and transport machinery parts fell 2.9%, 8.0% and 3.3%, respectively. In the materials sector, the exports of petroleum-based products, chemical products and compounds, rubber and plastic products, and primary metals decreased by 11.4%, 15.2%, 9.0% and 10.2% whereas that of non-metallic mineral products posted a growth of 12.7%.
By country, the export to Vietnam increased by 35.2% to raise that to the ASEAN region by 2.5%. However, those to the EU, Japan, the Middle East and China fell by 11.2%, 13.2%, 6.3% and 1.9%, respectively.
The imports declined by 5.1% compared to the previous year. Those from Japan, the Middle East, the EU and Latin America decreased by 13.5%, 15.8%, 8.4% and 8.7% but that from Vietnam soared by 73.2%. Korea’s reliance on materials and components imported from Japan reached an all-time low of 16.5%.