Export Economy
The export economy for the second quarter is expected to get better than that of the previous quarter due to the economic recovery of major developed countries like the U.S.
According to the 2015 Second Quarter Export Business Survey Index (EBSI) Report made on March 31 by the Institute for International Trade under the Korea International Trade Association targeting 702 local export companies, the EBSI for the second quarter recorded 112.0, increasing expectations on the improvement of export conditions.
The closer the EBSI gets to 200, which is an index with a standard of 100, maximum of 200, and minimum of 0, the more opinions there are that see the economy positively in the next quarter than the previous quarter. Conversely, the more negative opinions there are on the economy, the closer the EBSI gets to 0. Since the index becomes 100 when positive opinions are balanced with negative ones, 112 means that there are slightly more opinions seeing the economy positively.
The export companies also expected that business talks and contracts for export will increase and the facility utilization rate will rise during the second quarter. However, the economy of export-targeting countries will remain same as that of the previous quarter. And the conditions for export profitability, international supply and demand, and the production costs of exported products will deteriorate.
By item, expectations of home appliances (125.0) and wireless communication apparatus (111.8) were especially high. The high expectations of home appliances was due to the launches of new products and the increases in demand of premium products in developed countries. The favorable factors for wireless communication apparatus include launches of strategic phones and adoptions of slim metal design.
On the other hand, the prospects for textile goods (95.5) were dim due to the delayed economic recovery of the global textile market and the drop in export unit prices with weak material prices.