Korea’s Exports Rebound for 1st Time in 13 Months in October

While Korea’s exports rebounded for the first time in 13 months in October, the value of Korea’s exports to Eastern European countries surged. Eastern European countries included Poland, Hungary and Turkiye. In general, they had previously accounted for small proportions of Korea’s exports.

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) released the results of its analysis of Korea’s exports by country on Nov. 9. The top 10 countries with Korea that enjoyed the highest year-on-year export growth from January to September this year were Poland, Hungary, Turkiye, Kyrgyzstan, Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Belgium, and Qatar.

In a breakdown of Korea’s strong export items to these countries, the KCCI attributed the export growth to expanding production bases for sales in large economic blocs such as the EU, overcoming geopolitical crises such as those in Central Asia, and the Korean government’s export promotion diplomacy for Korean companies, in particular Korean defense contractors.

Poland, Hungary and Turkiye are Korean companies’ bridgeheads to the European market. Korea’s exports of fine chemical raw materials, which are raw materials for secondary batteries, grew by 30.1 percent to Poland and 73.8 percent to Hungary. These two countries are home to the secondary battery factories of SK and LG, respectively. Batteries produced in these countries are exported to other EU countries such as Germany. Korea’s exports of auto parts to Turkiye climbed by 40.1 percent. This was due to increased exports to Europe from Hyundai Motor’s plant in Turkiye.

The fourth- through tenth-ranked countries include five countries from the Middle East and Central Asia. Korea ramped up exports to Kyrgyzstan (No. 4) and Kazakhstan (No. 6) as the prolonged war in Ukraine made it difficult for Korea’s automobile trade with the Central Asian countries and Russia, analysts say.

Saudi Arabia (No. 5), the United Arab Emirates (No. 8), and Qatar (No. 10) were associated with Korean government’s sales diplomacy. They are characterized by exports related to defense products, nuclear power plants, and construction machinery. Exports of weapons including the Chunmoo Multiple Rocket Launcher and the Poniard (Bigung) 70 mm Guided Rocket occupied a big proportion of Korea’s exports to Saudi Arabia by reaching 88.1 percent.

Exports of construction items such as heavy construction equipment (81.7 percent) and hydraulic transformers (133.3 percent) also spiked thanks to the construction of Neom City and an increase in solar power generation in Saudi Arabia. Korea’s uranium exports to the United Arab Emirates increased by 494.2 percent. In Qatar, Korea’s exports of seamless steel pipes (420.6 percent) and chemical machinery (5,482.1 percent) surged to Qatar as Korean companies landed construction projects such as the expansion of a northern gas field in Qatar.