SEOUL:Korea’s export growth slowed in February to its weakest in more than a year, government data showed yesterday, showing the effects of a long Lunar New year holiday and a slip in overseas demand for some Korean goods.
The 4% year-on-year increase in exports was the slowest expansion since November 2016 and deeply underperforms a 22.3% jump in January, but was better than the median estimate for a 0.4% increase.
Shipments were hit by fewer working days due to the change of the timing of the Lunar New Year.
There were 19.5 working days in February this year, versus 22 last year.
Combining January and February, exports surged 12.8 year-on-year, evidence that overseas demand is strong enough to support solid growth in the first quarter.
“This slowdown is likely to be temporary, exports will continue to grow going forward on solid demand for Korean goods,” said Kim Doo-un, an economist at Hana Financial Investment.
Economists expect South Korea’s exports to grow at a slower but steady pace in 2018 after 2017’s bumper growth, reflecting a statistical base effect from last year’s strong performance and ongoing trade friction with the United States.
Bank of Korea governor Lee Ju-yeol said on Tuesday that the auto and steel industries could be hit hard if US trade curbs were to be further stiffened, because they run the biggest trade surpluses with the United States.
The US Commerce Department has recommended President Donald Trump impose steep curbs on steel imports, including those from South Korea, after slapping bigger taxes on washers and solar panels in January.
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