Dwindling Auto Parts Export
It has been found that auto parts exports from South Korea totaled US$1.796 billion last month, down 13.7% from a year earlier. The total for the first seven months of this year was US$13.151 billion, down 7% from a year ago.
Auto parts exports from South Korea hit an all-time high of US$26.614 billion in 2014 and began to decline in 2015. The amount fell to US$24.392 billion last year and is estimated to dip below US$20 billion for the first time in seven years this year.
On the other hand, South Korea’s auto parts imports showed a year-on-year increase of 8.5% and reached US$5.058 billion last year. The total for the first seven months of this year was US$3.086 billion, up 5.3% from a year earlier.
The decline in auto parts exports is because of a decline in car exports from South Korea above all. It can be attributed to the economic retaliation from China that followed THAAD deployment in South Korea, Washington’s trade protectionism, low-price auto parts supplied globally by Chinese manufacturers and Chinese automakers procuring more and more parts from them.
“South Korean auto parts manufacturers need to diversify their exports to emerging markets such as Russia, Southeast Asia, India and Mexico while working on electric vehicle parts, self-driving car parts and the like,” said an industry expert.