Jul 21, 2019
Tumbling Korea Exports Signal Another Bad Month for Global Trade
Bloomberg News
,(Bloomberg) -- South Korea’s exports, a bellwether for global trade, look set for an eighth straight monthly drop as trade disputes take a toll on global demand.
Exports during the first 20 days of July fell 14% from a year earlier, data from the Korea Customs Service showed Monday. Semiconductor sales plunged 30%, while shipments to China, the biggest buyer of South Korean goods, fell 19%.
The early July data come after Asia’s fourth-largest economy, which relies on exports to generate growth, saw overseas shipments fall in June by the most in three and a half years.
The Bank of Korea last week lowered its key interest rate and slashed its 2019 economic growth forecast to 2.2%, citing the U.S.-China trade war and Japan’s export curbs on materials vital to Korea’s role in the technology supply chain. A downturn in the semiconductor industry has also hammered Korean exports.
South Korea’s 20-day trade data work as an indicator for global demand, due to their early release and Korean companies’ deep integration into the global supply chain. The nation’s second-quarter gross domestic product data, due later this week, will also help gauge the health of global demand after China and Singapore reported slumping economic growth.
Korean imports fell 10% during the first 20 days of July from a year earlier. Exports to the U.S. edged down 5.1% while those to Japan fell 6.6%.
To contact the reporter on this story: Sam Kim in Seoul at skim609@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Malcolm Scott at mscott23@bloomberg.net, Jiyeun Lee, Henry Hoenig
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