Weak Yen Trap
At least 92 percent of Korean companies exporting to Japan are taking a hit from the weak yen, while the others whose export destinations include regions other than Japan are subject to negative effects from the relatively cheaper prices of Japanese products such as ships and petroleum products.
The Institute for International Trade of the Korean International Trade Association published a related report on May 6, adding that a total of 216 Korean firms, or 92.6 percent of the survey respondents, are suffering damages from the weak yen in the form of deteriorating profitability or decreased exports. Their yen-based settlement ratio reached 46.9 percent as of the end of last year.
The rate of increase of exports to Japan on the basis of the U.S. dollar rose 3.8 percent between November 2011 and the same month of the following year, but plunged by 18.1 percent in December 2012 and 10.7 percent year on year in the first quarter of this year.
448 of those exporting their products to countries other than Japan are relatively free from the impact of the weak yen. However, marine vessel, machinery and petroleum product exporters are having difficulties due to price dumping by Japanese firms. Japanese companies’ total export volume decreased between December 2012 and February this year, but their ship and petroleum product exports jumped 136.9 percent and 42.6 percent during the same period, respectively.