Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Korean exports fall 5.9% in September

    Partial strikes at major automobile companies including Hyundai Motor has negatively affected the exports by 79,000 units of cars. As a result, car exports dived 24 percent compared to the same month last year, to $ 1.14 billion. Wireless device exports, such as Samsung Electronics' Galaxy note 7, plunged as well by 27.9 percent to $ 0.37 billion. The fall of four major exports, which consists of wireless devices, cars, ships and petrochemicals, led  the plunge of total monthly export. The four key industries together are responsible for $ 2.5 billion of export decrease, which amounts to 93.9 percent.     Product-wise, year-on-year statistics fell but major export products shown signs of recovery regardless of walkouts in automobile industry and fewer working days. Semiconductors enjoyed renewed demand since September 2015, thanks to global launching of new smartphones and smartphone products and month-on-month unit price increase. However last year's record of the same month was the second highest in its history, thus outbound shipment of semiconductors consequently suffered a slight on-year fall of 2.6 percent  in comparison. Computers and auto parts have also shown higher international demand with 13.3  percent and 3.5 percent  export increase, respectively.     Regionally, outbound shipments to Vietnam and Japan remained on the positive terrain with 16.9 percent and 6.3 percent climb. But exports bound to China sank 9.1 percent as well as those to U.S., 6.1 percent, and the EU, 14.5 percent.                   date2016-10-01

Minister Joo hosts discussion session with foreign investors

     Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Joo Hyunghwan (second from right) attended `Key Investors  Roundtable’ session at the 2016 Foreign Investment Week, where dozens of foreign investors from different sectors ranging from automotive parts and beauty to biotechnology presented their investment plan and asked for the government support in implementing or expanding their investment plan in Korea.   The closed meeting was held at the sideline of the 2016 Foreign date2016-09-29

Vice Minister Jeong delivers speech at the `2016 Foreign Investment Week’

     Trade, Industry and Energy Vice Minister Jeong Marn-ki delivered his speech on Korea’s competitiveness for foreign investment attraction in the opening ceremony of the 2016 Foreign Investment Week, held at the Grand InterContinental Hotel in Samseong-dong, southern Seoul, on September 28. About 1,300 attendants, composed of potential foreign investors overseas, executives from multinational corporations in Korea and Korean companies, officials from provincial governmen date2016-09-29

Korea wins WTO case against the US anti-dumping duties on Korean washers

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in a press release on Sept 8 that the World Trade Organization's dispute settlement panel ruled in favor of Korea over the country's case against United States'  anti-dumping duties imposed on Korean washing machines on September 7, saying the United States' targeted dumping and zeroing methods were in violation of the WTO agreement.   The dispute over Korean washers began back in August 2013 when Korea filed a complaint ag date2016-09-08

South Korean exports rebound in August

Exports: $ 40.1 Billion; Imports: $ 34.8 Billion; Trade Surplus: $ 5.3 Billion   The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced Wednesday that South Korea’s year-on-year exports rebounded in August, putting an end to the 18-straight-month fall.   The country’s outbound shipments rose 2.6 percent to $ 40.1 billion last month  from the same period a year ago mainly because of the extended working days. This was the first positive export growth since date2016-09-01

Korean exports in July post USD 41 billion

Exports: $41.0 billion; Imports: $33.3 billion; Trade Surplus: $7.8 billion     The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that South Korea’s exports fell 10.2 percent to $41.0 billion and imports decreased by 14.0 percent to $33.3 billion in July from a year earlier, resulting in a trade surplus, for the 54th consecutive month, of $ 7.8 billion.    Exports declined at a faster rate in July due to a reduced number of work days (-1.5 days) and fewer ship e date2016-08-03

Korea's foreign direct investment hits record high of $10.52 billion in 1st half

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on July 4 announced that foreign direct investment newly pledged in the first six months of this year has reached a record high of USD 10.52 billion.   This is the largest amount of FDI committed in history for a six-month period, and an 18.6 percent jump from $8.87 billion a year ago, which bodes well for Korea's annual FDI attraction goal to reach $20 billion. Also, this is the first time that pledged FDI has exceeded $10 billion date2016-07-04

Export fall rate in June was the smallest in a year

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy has announced that South Korean exports fell 2.7 percent to USD 45.3 billion and imports decreased by 8.0 percent to USD 33.7 billion in June from a year earlier, resulting in a trade surplus, for the 53rd consecutive month, of USD 11.6 billion. This was the largest trade surplus on record in terms of monthly surplus.   The export decrease rate in June has recorded the lowest since June 2015 and also a reduced decrease rate for two consecutive mont date2016-07-01

'Brexit’ Likely to Have Minimal Impact on Korean Economy

'Brexit’ Likely to Have Minimal Impact on Korean Economy   Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced Britain’s withdrawal from the EU, better known as Brexit, is expected to have little impact on the Korean economy.   On June 24, the Ministry held an emergency conference on the impact of Brexit on the Korean economy. Vice Minister Lee Kwan-sup hosted the conference to examine how Britain’s withdrawal from the EU could affect Korea’s real economy and to di date2016-06-24

South Korea's Exports Fall Six Percent in May

  Exports in May recorded USD 39.8 billion, a 6.0 percent fall from a year earlier. However, the value of exports denominated in Korean won rose 0.9 percent during the same period, reversing the downward trend that has continued for eight months since September last year.   Imports declined 9.3 percent to USD 32.7 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of USD 7.1 billion and continuing a 52-month surplus trend.   A breakdown of exports by sector reveals that overseas sales of computers increased by 3.6 percent as a result of growing demand for PCs attributable to upgrades to Window 10. Exports of electronic appliances also turned around to an upturn 22 months after the falling trend started in July 2014, growing 1.9 percent from a year earlier amid rising demand for TV sets driven by brisk sporting events and strong sales of premium products.   Exports of textile and petrochemicals rose by 1.1 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.   Semiconductors declined 4.1 percent due to falling DRAM prices and steel declined 4.0 percent from a year earlier as unit cost dropped. Automobiles decreased by 7.1 percent due to poor performance in emerging markets. Flat-panel displays decreased by 23.5 percent due to stagnant LCD demand and falling prices and wireless communication devices fell by 11.8 percent as the effects of new product launches waned. The shipbuilding sector also saw exports slide by 16.6 percent as deliveries of ships were delayed due to ship owners’ requests and lagging building processes.   On the other hand, five major consumer goods including cosmetics all posted solid growth. Exports of cosmetics jumped 60.7 percent, pharmaceuticals 25.2 percent, agricultural and fishery products 13.8 percent, household goods and infant and children’s items 11.3 percent, and fashion and clothing goods 8.7 percent.   Decline in imports slowed to a single-digit decline rate for the first time in 17 months. Imports of raw materials and capital goods decreased while more consumer goods were brought in from abroad during the same period.   date2016-06-01