Overseas Sales of Major Companies Rebound in Q3

The Federation of Korean Industries announced on Nov. 24 that the top 100 sales companies’ consolidated overseas sales totaled 181.9 trillion won in the third quarter of this year, up 1.6 percent from a year ago.

In the second quarter, the consolidated overseas sales dropped 19.5 percent year on year amid a global recession caused by COVID-19. For the first three quarters of this year, the consolidated overseas sales decreased 7.1 percent year on year with the companies’ overall sales falling 3 percent.

The Q3 recovery was led by the electrical and electronics industry. The sector’s overseas sales jumped 21.1 percent to 85.4 trillion won as demand increased in North America and Europe and online sales expanded.

The automobile and auto parts industry, which posted a decline of 36.5 percent in Q2, reduced the figure to negative 4 percent with North American and European automakers resuming their production. On the other hand, energy and chemical (negative 14.6 percent) and steel and metal (negative 39.6 percent) remained sluggish.

Those companies’ overseas sales in the Americas, Asia and Europe rose 13.7 percent, 4.7 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively. In the previous quarter, the sales in each of those regions dropped more than 10 percent year on year.