Export Index
The Bank of Korea announced on April 25 that South Korea recorded an export volume index of 151.26 last month, up 4.9% from a year ago. The index that shows the total amount of products exported from South Korea on a customs clearance basis and does not include certain items such as works of art, weaponry and ships went up for the fifth consecutive month. The export price index increased as well, reaching 130.93 with a year-on-year growth of 15.6%.
The improvement of the indices is because the total exports from the country are on the increase. Specifically, the total exports increased for six months in a row. In January this year, the volume increased by 19.7% from a month earlier and the rate of increase was 23.9% in February, 27.7% in March and 28.4% in the first three weeks of this month.
Last month, the export volume and price indices of coal and petroleum products rose by 20.2% and 63%, respectively. This is because the international oil price jumped from about US$30 to US$50 or so between the first quarter of last year and the first quarter of this year. The indices rose by 5.2% and 22.1% in the case of chemical products, by 30.9% and 24.6% when it comes to precision machinery and by 22.6% and 21.4% in the case of general machinery. Meanwhile, those of agricultural and fisheries products fell by 17.7% and 9.1%.
Last month, South Korea’s import volume index rose by 11.2% year on year to 139.16 and its import price index showed an increase of 28.3% to reach 120.97. This has to do with the increase in oil price, too. The indices of coal and petroleum products fell 2% and rose 57.9% and those of chemical products rose 9.5% and 21.3%. Those of general machinery increased 54.3% and 52.8%, led by a significant increase in the import of semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
The terms-of-trade index declined as the import indices exceeded the exports indices in terms of increment. Specifically, the net barter terms-of-trade index fell 4.5% year on year to 99.57, dipping below 100 for the first time in 19 months. The income terms-of-trade index edged up by 0.2% to 150.61.