Korea becomes 7th-largest exporter

A top-selling memory chip By Kim Tae-gyu South Korea racked up record-high outbound shipments last year, which are expected to see it ranked as the world’s seventh largest exporter. The Ministry of Knowledge Economy (MKE) said Sunday that Korea recorded $467.4 billion in exports last year and $425.7 billion in imports for a trade surplus of $41.7 billion. Both exports and the surplus are unprecedented. With the record-high figures, Asia’s fourth-largest economy is now estimated to have nudged past Italy and Belgium. The nation’s cash cows of semiconductors and automobiles spearheaded the achievement with sales jumping 63.3 percent and 39.3 percent year-on-year, respectively. Home appliances and steel products followed with 27.7 percent and 25.4 percent growths each while shipbuilding also rocketed at a double-digit pace of 10.2 percent. Broken down by regions, shipments of made-in-Korea products increased most to South American countries by 39.4 percent trailed by China with 35.2 percent and Southeast Asian states totaling 30.9 percent. The rising prices of raw materials including crude oil accounted mostly for the growth in imports as Korea lacks natural resources the country does not produce a drop of oil. This year, the MKE projects that Korea will be able to top the $1 trillion mark in trade for the ninth time in its history after the United States, Germany, China, Japan, France, Italy, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. The ministry’s expectations are $513 billion in exports and $488 billion in imports. But the surplus is likely to substantially shrink to $25 billion. If crude oil remains strong throughout the year, as it is currently, the surplus may decrease further.

voc200@koreatimes.co.kr