ANN/THE KOREA HERALD – South Korea’s exports snapped their 15 straight months of annual increases in January due to a reduced number of business days from the extended Lunar New Year holiday, data showed yesterday.
Outbound shipments fell 10.3 per cent from a year earlier to USD49.1 billion last month, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
Imports fell 6.4 per cent on-year to USD51 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of USD1.89 billion, logging the first deficit in 20 months.
By sector, exports of semiconductors climbed 8.1 per cent to hit USD10.1 billion, marking the second-highest amount for any January. It was also the ninth consecutive month for chip exports to surpass the USD10 billion mark.
The ministry attributed the strong performance to robust demand for premium products, such as high bandwidth memory chips and DDR-based memory, sparked by a global expansion of investment in data centers and artificial intelligence.
Outbound shipments of computers, including solid state drives, also advanced 14.8 per cent to USD800 million, rising for the 13th straight month. Exports of automobiles, on the other hand, tumbled 19.6 per cent on-year to USD5 billion as production was highly affected by the long holiday and a decrease in demand for diesel and electric vehicles.
Petroleum product shipments slid 29.8 per cent to USD3.4 billion due to lower crude prices and a fire at a major production facility in late December affecting exports.
Petrochemical product shipments pulled back 12.8 per cent to USD3.5 billion. Outbound shipments of ships declined 2.1 per cent to USD2.5 billion as exports were concentrated on low-cost tankers.
The secondary battery industry logged an 11.6 per cent decrease to USD1.2 billion.
By destination, exports to China slipped 14.1 per cent on-year to USD9.2 billion due to lower demand for machinery, petroleum products and displays, the data showed.
Exports to the United States (US) fell 9.4 per cent to USD9.3 billion on a decrease in automobile and machinery shipments. Outbound shipments to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) edged down 2.1 per cent to USD8.6 billion, and exports to the European Union shrank 11.7 per cent to USD5 billion.
“Exports temporarily slowed down in January due to the reduced number of business days as a result of the long Lunar New Year holiday,” Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun said. “The country’s export momentum is still holding up considering that South Korea’s daily average exports increased 7.7 per cent on-year and having seen growth in major sectors and markets,” he added.
Ahn also said his ministry will closely monitor shifts in the US trade policies under the Donald Trump administration, vowing to support exports amid heightened economic uncertainties.
