Trade Performance

A bird's eye view of Busan Port.
A bird's eye view of Busan Port.

 

Korea’s trade surplus increased in November from a year earlier, as its exports inched up while imports inched down. 

According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on November 30, the nation’s outbound shipments in November amounted to slightly over US$47.91 billion, up 0.2 percent from the same month last year, but down 4.9 percent from US$50.4 billion in the previous month.  

Inbound shipments, on the other hand, fell down 0.6 percent from a year earlier to US$43.11 billion.
Posting the trade surplus for the 22nd consecutive month, the trade surplus in November amounted to about US$4.8 billion, up 3.8 percent from US$4.42 billion in the same month last year. 

The ministry attributed November’s monthly growth in outbound shipments largely to exports of ships and IT products.

More specifically, exports of ships skyrocketed 30.5 percent year-on-year to US$2.54 billion. Exports of mobile communication devices, such as cellular phones, jumped 12.6 percent to US$2.89 billion while semiconductors’ shipments were US$4.98 billion, up 8.2 percent from a year ago. 

However, exports of liquefied crystal display (LCD) panels dropped 13.4 percent from a year ago to US$2.18 billion, and exports of steel products also declined 20.3 percent to US$2.87 billion. 

By nation, the country’s exports to the EU climbed 6.8 percent from a year earlier, while shipments to the US and China also increased 2.9 percent and 3.7 percent, respectively. Exports to the US skyrocketed to 23.1 percent in October from the previous month.

Exports to Middle Eastern countries dropped 10.7 percent from a year earlier, and those to the 10 member countries of the ASEAN plunged 11.2 percent, mainly due to the aftermath of Indonesia’s economic downturn.

Exports to Japan in November continued a downward trend owing to the yen’s slide, down 6.7 percent from a month ago. 

In the meantime, November’s slight fall in imports was attributable to a large decrease in energy imports. The nation’s imports of coal dropped 21.5 percent year-on-year to about US$1.04 billion, along with import drops of crude oil and petroleum products by 8.6 percent and 7.2 percent each, to some $8.33 billion and $2.33 billion, respectively. 

Its imports of capital goods, on the other hand, jumped 28.7 percent from a year ago in the first 20 days of the month as its purchase of semiconductor manufacturing equipment skyrocketed 242.9 percent. Imports of mobile communication devices also surged 56.4 percent.
The ministry said that the country’s exports will likely continue to rise, though many external risks still exist, including the US’s tapering of quantitative easing.

Meanwhile, the nation’s trade surplus in the first 11 months of the year reached US$40.5 billion, the ministry said.

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