Overview of South Korea's Import and Export in April 2019

Release time:

2019-05-08

South Korea's Ministry of Trade and Industry announced the "Import and Export Trend in April" of this (2019) year (customs clearance statistics from April 1 to 30). South Korea's export amount in April of this (2019) year was about US $57 million 48.8 billion, a decrease of 2.0 compared with the same month of last (2018) year. The import amount was about US $37 million 44.7 billion, an increase of 2.4 compared with the same month of last year, and the trade surplus was about US $20 million 4.1 billion.

Among the 13 major export items in South Korea in April this year (customs clearance statistics from April 1 to 30), compared with the same month last year, except for the export of ships increased by 53.6, the export of automobiles increased by 5.8 and the export of general machinery increased by 0.3, the export of other items declined, exports of auto parts decreased by 0.1 per cent, household appliances by 1.3 per cent, petroleum products by 2.6 per cent, wireless communication machines by 4.0 per cent, textiles by 5.6 per cent, petrochemicals by 5.7 per cent, steel by 7.7 per cent, displays by 9.2 per cent, semiconductors by 13.5 per cent and computers by 36.6 per cent. Exports of the other seven new export growth drivers all grew, with exports of electric vehicles increasing by 140.1 per cent, robots by 24.6 per cent, biotechnology and health care by 23.3 per cent, agricultural, aquatic and food products by 15.5 per cent, batteries by 13.4 per cent, plastic products by 11.1 per cent and cosmetics by 0.04 per cent.

In terms of major export regions (provisional customs clearance statistics from April 1 to 30), exports to major regions in April this year increased by 39.7 per cent to Central and South America, 4.9 per cent to India and 3.9 per cent to the United States, compared with the same month last year, exports to ASEAN countries fell by 1.0 per cent, to the European Union (EU) by 1.9 per cent, to mainland China by 4.5 per cent, to Japan by 8.2 per cent and to the Middle East by 24.8 per cent.

According to the import situation in April this year (customs clearance statistics from April 1 to 30), only the export of capital goods declined by 14.8, while the import of plateau materials, intermediate goods and consumer goods increased by 1.9, 6.7 and 8.1 respectively. Among them, the import situation of major energy resources items (provisional customs clearance statistics from April 1 to 30), the import of highland oil and gas increased by 11.1 and 3.7 respectively, while the import of petroleum products and coal decreased by 9.3 and 25.0 respectively compared with the same month last year.

According to Minister Cheng Yunmo of South Korea's Ministry of Industry, Trade and Resources, due to the passivation of the global economy, the unresolved trade conflict between the United States and China, and the deterioration of the foreign trade environment, even though South Korean export manufacturers have made active efforts, South Korea's exports continued to decline for two months in April this year. Although the reduction rate has improved and the export volume has also increased, the export situation is still not optimistic. In order to improve the export physique, since April 30, we have started to promote the "System Semiconductor Development Strategy". In the future, we plan to successively develop development strategies in the fields of future automobiles, biochemical health care and material parts and equipment, strengthen industrial competitiveness and explore new export growth momentum.

Qu also pointed out that starting from May this year, the Korean government will successively plan countermeasures such as "Expanding Export Programs for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and New Venture Enterprises" (May), "Increasing Export Programs for Consumer Property" (June), "Innovative Digital Trade Programs" (June) and "Promoting Export Market Diversification Strategy" to innovate export projects, markets and methods. In addition, the "Phase 2 Export Vitality Promotion Group" has been launched since May to visit export enterprises and manufacturers to actively understand and help solve the export problems they face.

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