SEOUL: The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on Aug. 1 that overall exports came to US$46.61 billion (54.64 trillion won) last month, down 3.3 percent from the same month last year. However, the country’s trade surplus jumped to US$7.76 billion (9.1 trillion won) last month, as imports plunged 15.3 percent year-on-year to US$38.85 billion (45.54 trillion won).
The overall outbound shipments grew 7.8 percent from June and increased for two consecutive months. However, the total amount of exports dropped by more than 3 percent due to the fall in global oil prices and an oversupply of goods in the global market, which together pulled down prices of the country’s key export items, including petroleum products.
What is remarkable is that semiconductors have become the country’s single largest export item for three years in a row from 2013, while petroleum products have ranked second for the second consecutive year from 2013. In 2012, petroleum products were the largest export item, surpassing even semiconductors.
Shipments of main export items were sluggish. Exports of cars shrank 6.2 percent year-on-year, with shipments of mobile communication devices, including smartphones, plunging 16 percent. Exports of computers, home appliances, textiles, and automobile parts decreased by 6.5 percent, 17.5 percent, 12.2 percent, and 10.7 percent, respectively, showing a big drop. However, shipments of semiconductors rose 6.6 percent year-on-year in July, while exports of ships and steel spiked 57.4 percent and 16.4 percent, respectively. Also, shipments of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), the country’s new main item, surged by a whopping 217.7 percent, with exports of cosmetics increasing 39.1 percent.
By country, shipments to China, the world’s single largest importer of South Korean products, shrank 6.4 percent from a year earlier, while exports to Japan, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the E.U., and the Middle East plunged to 28 percent, 42.7 percent, 5.6 percent, and 18.6 percent, respectively. On the other hand, shipments to the United States and Vietnam gained 1.8 percent and 46.5 percent year-on-year.
Due to the uncertain global economy, drop in global oil prices, and the weak yen and euro, the decline of exports will continue for a while, the MOTIE predicted.
