Material and Component
With shipments of chemical products and electronic components having skyrocketed, South Korean exports of materials and components posted a double-digit growth for the first time in six years.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on April 19 that exports of materials and parts reached US$65.8 billion (75.04 trillion won) in the first quarter, up 11 percent from a year earlier. The figures showed a growth trend for two quarters in a row and it was the first double-digit increase in six years since the third quarter of 2011, driven by the increase of both export unit prices and volumes. The unit price of exports turned around in eight quarters after the fourth quarter of 2014 and maintained an upward trend until the first quarter of this year. The amount of exports also showed a 1.6 percent point growth, which was the highest in nine quarters since the third quarter of 2015.
In particular, exports of chemical products in the material sector had a sharp increase. Shipments of chemical products posted US$10.6 billion (12.12 trillion won), up 24.3 percent. This was largely due to the increase in unit prices caused by higher international oil prices and in exports of key items such as synthetic resin and synthetic rubber. Exports of primary metals also advanced 12.8 percent to US$5.9 billion (6.74 trillion won).
In the component sector, exports of electronic parts grew 19.7 percent to US$23.7 billion (27.09 trillion won) as information technology (IT) products advanced and shipments of key electronic components, including semiconductor and communication devices, rose. On the other hand, those for electric machine parts declined 21 percent to US$4.7 billion won (5.37 trillion won). This was because electric alarm parts were categorized into other sectors and exports of other electrical equipment components decreased, though shipments of some items, including electric supply and electric control systems, increased.
By region, exports to Latin American countries showed the highest increase with 27.8 percent to US$3.5 billion (4 trillion won), while those to Vietnam and China grew 23.9 percent and 1.5 percent to US$5.8 billion (6.63 trillion won) and US$20.1 billion (22.97 trillion won), respectively. By contrast, shipments to the United States shed 1.8 percent to US$6.6 billion (7.54 trillion won).
South Korea also posted US$40.3 billion (46.06 trillion won) in imports, up 10.9 percent. Most of key items showed an increase. Imports of chemical products, primary materials, electronic parts and general machine parts grew 15.5 percent, 32 percent, 3.7 percent and 10.6 percent, respectively. By region, imports from the Middle East rose 24.8 percent, while those from Vietnam and China grew 19.7 percent and 13.7 percent.