[ad_1]
Minister of Commerce, Industry and Energy (center) Sung Yun-mo is inspecting the export site at the Hanjin Container Terminal in Incheon New Port on the 1st. News 1
Last year’s exports to Korea were found to be down 5.4% compared to the previous year. The world economy contracted due to the new coronavirus infection (Corona 19). As exports fell dramatically for the second year in a row after 10.4% in 2019, the amount of exports dropped to the level of 2016, before the Moon Jae-in administration was established.
Decrease of more than 15% in exports in two years
According to the ‘Annual Import and Export Trends of December 2020’ announced by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy on the 1st, last year’s total exports fell 5.4% compared to the previous year to 5128.48 billion of dollars. Revenues decreased 7.2% to $ 466.23 billion. As imports fell sharply compared to exports, the trade surplus registered $ 46.2 billion, an increase of 17.3% over the previous year.
The Ministry of Industry assessed that Korea was relatively good, considering that exports to major countries registered a double-digit drop due to Corona 19 last year. Last month, exports registered $ 51.01 billion, an increase of 12.6% compared to the same month last year. It is the highest of all December exports. The Industry Ministry said: “The situation in Korea was the fourth most favorable of the top 10 exporting countries after Hong Kong, China and the Netherlands.” It is showing a clear recovery from the third quarter, like a shift towards an increase ”.
Semiconductors (5.6%), computers (57.2%) and biohealth (54.4%), which are the main pillars of the Korean economy, were cited as the items that led the recovery trend. Semiconductor posted its second export performance thanks to investment in large-scale data centers and commercialization of 5G (5G) communications by global information technology (IT) companies. Computers benefited from the expansion of the remote economy due to Corona 19, and BioHealth benefited from the rapid increase in exports of Corona 19 diagnostic kits.
However, last year’s “ export advance ” is noted as a base effect due to poor exports from the previous year. In 2019, exports decreased by 10.4% compared to the previous year, registering a decline close to 2009 (-13.9%), when the aftermath of the global financial crisis continued. Compared to the rate of reduction in world trade (-0.1%) during the same period, it is 100 times higher.
With a total decrease of 15.2% in exports in the last two years, exports surpassed $ 600 billion for the first time in 2018, reaching the 2016 level ($ 495.4 billion) this year. During the same period, world trade fell 9.3%.
Minister Sung Yun-mo “Exports plus conversion this year”
Leading organizations predict that exports to Korea will rebound this year as the world economy normalizes due to the spread of the Corona 19 vaccine. The prevailing view is that the rate of increase will be in the mid or late single digits. Representatives include the Ministry of Strategy and Finance (8.6%) and KOTRA (6.0 ~ 7.0%) and the Bank of Korea (5.3%, based on product exports). The Industry Research Institute (11.2%) and the Hyundai Economic Research Institute (10.1%) have a positive outlook, and KDI (3.1%) have a somewhat negative outlook.
Unlike in previous years, the Ministry of Industry did not announce a separate export forecast for this year. An Industry Ministry official said: “Because the uncertainty arising from the Corona 19 crisis is so great, it does not make sense to present detailed forecasts for each industry.”
Industry Minister Sung Yun-mo visited the Hanjin Container Terminal in the new Incheon port on that day and said, “If the global economy and commercial economy gradually recover, we expect Korea’s exports to improve relative to last year”. He said: “It is true that there are uncertainties in external conditions, such as the overcoming of Corona 19, the expansion of global protectionism and the launch of a new US government.”
Reporter Seong Soo-young [email protected]
