Int’l Trade

 

Korea’s September trade surplus decreased US$1.1 billion from August.

According to the “Import and Export Trends in September” report published by the Korea Customs Service on October 14, the nation’s exports totaled US$44.7 billion last month, a 1.5% year-on-year decrease, and a 3.4% decline from the previous month. 

Imports, on the other hand, fell 3.6% from a year ago to reach US$41 billion last month. Month-over-month, the country’s import volume dropped 1.1%. 

As a result, Korea recorded a trade surplus of US$3.7 billion in September, a US$1.1 billion decrease compared to a month earlier (US$4.8 billion), but a year-on-year increase of US$800 million. 

Among export items, the shipping industry posted a 72.4% gain, semiconductors 21.1%, and home appliances 14.8%, respectively, compared to the same month last year. However, exports of cars, wireless telecommunications devices, and steel products posted double-digit losses with -12.8%, -12.1%, and -12.0%, respectively. 

By region, exports to China and Latin American countries increased by 1.4% and 5.1% each. In contrast, outbound shipments to the US, Japan, Australia, Southeast Asia, the EU, and the Middle East all represented negative growth of -1.6%,-1.5%, -18.7%, -0.9%, -8.9%, and -30.5% each.  

Meanwhile, imports of raw materials, including crude oil, chemicals and industrial materials, and steel shrank by 6.6% from a year ago. But those of consumer goods such as cars, semiconductors, machinery, and precision instruments rose by 1.2%, a continuing upward trend for the 13th month in a row. Capital goods edged up 1.4% in imports.

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