New Industries
The Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy of South Korea announced on July 5 that the total exports from the country’s eight major new industry sectors including electric vehicle and robot reached US$31.47 billion in the first half of this year, equivalent to 11.3% of the total exports from the country during the same period.
The total exports from the eight sectors showed a year-on-year growth of 20% during the period. Previously, the rate of increase was 6.1% in H1 2015, 11.5% in H2 2015, 2.8% in H1 2016, and 9.1% in H2 2016. The ratio was 9.1%, 10.7%, 10.4%, and 11.9% during the respective periods.
The rate of increase in exports reached as high as 90.9% in the electric vehicle sector. It was followed by aerospace (45.7%), next-generation display (25.6%), next-generation semiconductor (18.4%), advanced new materials (12.3%), and biohealth (6.1%).
The increase in electric vehicle exports was led by those to Europe and the United States. When it comes to next-generation display, the total exports hit a new quarterly high of US$3.916 billion as TV sales increased and more and more OLED displays were adopted by global smartphone manufacturers. The exports of next-generation semiconductor chips turned around based on a rise in NAND flash price and increasing demands while exports from the aerospace sector reached US$1.67 billion based on an increase in aircraft and aircraft component exports. The new energy sector boosted its exports to US$2.954 billion, led by electric vehicles, ESS capacitors, advanced metering infrastructure, etc.
By export destination, those to the Middle East and Latin America rose 110.8% and 40.5%, respectively. Likewise, those to the EU region increased 38.2%, the U.S. 33.7%, ASEAN countries 27.2%, CIS countries 21.3%, India 20.4%, and China 11.3%. Those to Japan showed a decline of 6.9%.
The ministry explained that next-generation semiconductor and next-generation display currently account for 60.6% of 12.4% of the total exports from the eight sectors but the structure is showing signs of diversification as exports from the electric vehicle, ESS charger, and aerospace sectors are on the rise.