- DEC. 1, 2011 (Korea Herald)
This year's exports of makgeolli, a traditional Korean rice wine, are set to surpass $50 million for the first time on a sharp rise in demand from Japan and China. According to the Korea Customs Service, 37,027 tons of makgeolli worth $45.29 million were exported in the 10 months to October, about triple the amount sold abroad in the same period last year. Korea saw $15 million in makgeolli exports (15,543 tons) in January-October 2010. The country's exports of the rice wine in 2010 amounted to $19 million. “Demand for makgeolli rose steeply in Japan and China as it is widely known as a healthy alcoholic drink,” a KCS official said.
“If this upward trend continues, exports of makgeolli will top $50 million this year and reach $100 million next year.”
Exports of soju, Korea's top alcohol export, dropped slightly while overseas sales of Korean beer jumped.
Soju exports dipped from $95.64 million to $91.9 million. Beer exports surged 43 percent year-on-year to $57.74 million in the January-October period.
Thanks to the robust exports of makgeolli, Korea's total exports of alcoholic drinks gained 30 percent from a year ago to $205 million.
Imports, meanwhile, climbed 7 percent to $346 million.
Beer, soju and wine imports surged 34 percent, 23 percent and 18 percent, respectively, while imports of whiskey fell 4 percent.
Whiskey still took up the greatest share among imported alcoholic beverages with $181.14 million, followed by wine ($104.5 million), beer ($48.17 million) and clear strained rice wine ($11.82 million).
By Kim So-hyun
- DEC. 1, 2011 (Korea Herald)
Korea has arrived at the threshold of $1 trillion in trade volume for the first time ever as government figures show on Thursday that this year's exports have already topped $500 billion. As of end-November, the country's trade volume reached $986.7 billion with exports exceeding $508 billion, according to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy. That lifted surplus to nearly $30 billion when taking $479 billion in imports into account. The $1 trillion milestone is projected to be set as early as Monday, making Asia's fourth-largest economy the ninth member of the top trader league, following the U.S., Germany, China, Japan, France, the Netherlands, Italy and the U.K.
“Despite a global economic malaise, exports beat expectations last month on the back of upbeat sales of key items such as ships, petroleum products, steel, cars and displays,” the ministry said in a statement. In November, exports spiked 13.8 percent from a year before to $47 billion while imports jumped 11.3 percent to $43.1 billion, the ministry said. Trade surplus edged up about 8 percent to $3.9 billion on a year-on-year basis, marking a 22nd straight month in the black. But it reflects around a 10 percent fall from a month earlier. Shipment volume for petrol products surged a whopping 46.2 percent last month from a year ago. Figures for automobiles and steel products also soared 30.4 percent and 21.7 percent each during the same month. By destination, all regions except Europe took more shipments compared with a year earlier. Exports to the U.S. soared more than 25 percent, the Middle East nearly 19 percent and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations 15.5 percent. Meanwhile, imports of crude oil and raw materials jumped last month but the pace slowed a bit due to unseasonable warm weather, the ministry noted. Korea, which relies on imports for almost all its energy needs, brought in crude oil worth nearly $7.9 billion in November, up almost 25 percent on-year. Imports of coal and petrol products shot up nearly 50 percent and 45 percent, respectively. Exports have been the main driver behind the country's rapid economic ascent. Concerns persist over its feeble domestic consumption and service sectors. Early this week, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development lowered Korea's growth outlook to 3.7 percent for this year and 3.8 percent for next year from the previous 4.6 percent and 4.5 percent, citing weak domestic demand, ballooning household debt and excessive reliance on exports among others.
- DEC 1, 2011 (JoongAng Daily)
It is most likely the drop will continue into the first quarter of next year.' - Yeom Sang-hoon Dec 01,2011
Fears of a global recession triggered by the European debt crisis have already spilled over to Korea's real economy, business indicators showed this week. Not only has productivity fallen in recent months, but companies are cutting back on their investments in production lines as demand shrinks. According to a report by Statistics Korea, production in both the mining and manufacturing industries dropped 0.7 percent in October from the previous month, after rising 1.2 percent in September on-month. Output of vehicles, including complete knockdown sets that are assembled into cars overseas, fell 3 percent last month from August, while video and audio production dropped 4.3 percent over the same period. The decline in auto production is due to a drop in overseas orders as well as falling exports, particularly of gas-guzzling large sedans and sport utility vehicles. The operating rate at factories also fell 1.8 percentage points from a month earlier to 79.5 percent, the lowest rate since it hit 79.3 percent in January 2010, according to the report. Though retail sales jumped 0.6 percent last month from September and numbers for the service sector climbed 0.7 percent over the same period, facility investment plunged 12.1 percent. This, the first double-digit drop in almost nine years, came as companies spent less on machinery and transportation equipment. Few Korean exporters have escaped the impact of high global uncertainty stemming from economic slowdowns in major economies such as the United States and the debt concerns facing euro zone countries. Additionally, the leading economic index fell 0.4 percentage points from the previous month despite an increase in the volume of construction orders. The index is a barometer of how the economy is performing and a gauge of how it will fare in the near future. “[The leading economic index] fell for the second consecutive month, which reflects the grim economic conditions,” the statistical office said in its release. Yeom Sang-hoon, a researcher at SK Securities, said that “looking at the leading economic index alone, it is most likely the drop will continue into the first quarter of next year.” Korea has seen its economic growth slow down recently as the country's gross domestic product also starts to stagnate.
However, last month's indicators give greater cause for optimism than was the case in 2010. According to Statistics Korea, on-year industrial production expanded 6.2 percent last month, marking the 28th straight month of growth in annualized terms since July 2009. “Although there were some weak numbers in October from the previous month, production was still up from last year,” the office said. By way of illustration, output of semiconductors and related parts jumped 26.3 percent on-year in October, while automobile production jumped 11.7 percent. Statistics Korea also noted that the number of new jobs rose from 264,000 in September to 501,000 in October, while the index measuring consumer sentiment edged up to 103 in November from 100 this time last year. HSBC also released a report yesterday saying that the business indicators are better than three years ago when the country was suffering from the global crisis triggered by the collapse of Lehman Brothers in the U.S. “The situation is not as dire as in 2008,” the bank said. “The latest surveys conducted by the Bank of Korea and the Federation of Korean Industries also show that the outlook has been steady.” Nevertheless, activity is slowing down, according to HSBC, which expects the central bank will keep its policy rate at 3.25 percent in its Dec. 8 monetary policy. The BOK kept interest rates at the same level in October for the fifth straight month as downside risks from the euro zone remain high.
By Lee Eun-joo
- DEC 6, 2011 (Korea Herald)
The South Korean economy grew slightly faster than previously estimated in the third quarter on sustained exports, but the growth momentum slowed from three months earlier amid global economic uncertainty, the central bank said Tuesday. Korea's gross domestic product (GDP), the broadest measure of economic performance, expanded a revised 0.8 percent in the July-September period, up from an earlier estimate of 0.7 percent, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The third-quarter expansion slowed from the 0.9 percent on-quarter growth tallied in the second quarter and marked the slowest advancement since a 0.5 percent expansion in the fourth quarter of 2010. From a year earlier, Asia's fourth-largest economy improved 3.5 percent, up from a previous estimate of 3.4 percent, the central bank added. The growth data underpinned views that a downbeat global economic outlook and the eurozone debt crisis have begun to dent the Korean economy, In the third quarter, exports weathered the global slowdown well, but domestic demand and facility investment grew at a slower pace than previously estimated, indicating that households and companies were reluctant to spend money amid high economic uncertainty. A set of downside risks to growth led BOK policymakers to freeze the key interest rate at 3.25 percent for the fifth straight month in November. Many analysts predict that the BOK will stand pat on the rate for this month and may cut the key rate next year in a bid to shield the economy from bleak global prospects. Private think tanks and international organizations forecast that the Korean economy is likely to grow at an upper range of 3 percent next year. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) predicted last week that Korea's economy is likely to grow 3.8 percent next year from an estimate of 3.7 percent this year. BOK Gov. Kim Choong-soo earlier said that the Korean economy will grow slower than its earlier estimate of 4.3 percent this year and its growth may reach the low-4 percent range for next year. The BOK will announce its 2012 growth forecast on Friday. Exports, which account for about 50 percent of South Korea's GDP, gained 1.6 percent on-quarter in the third quarter, up from an earlier projection of 1.4 percent. Private spending, one of the main growth engines of the Korean economy, rose 0.4 percent, lower than a previous estimate of a 0.6 percent gain. Facility investment fell 0.8 percent, compared with 0.4 percent contraction and construction investment gained 1.8 percent, down from an earlier estimate of a 2.2 percent expansion. The country's gross national income (GNI), a gauge of measuring the actual purchasing power of the population, rose 0.8 percent in the third quarter, better than a 0.2 percent gain in the preceding quarter. It marked the highest level since the second quarter of last year. The central bank said that the GNI improved last quarter as trade terms gained on-quarter due to a fall in oil prices.
- DEC 7, 2011 (Yeonhap News)
South Korea has signed a tentative deal with Laos to provide low-interest loans for the construction of a hydroelectric power plant in the Southeast Asian country, the finance ministry said Wednesday. Under the memorandum of understanding signed in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, South Korea will provide US$70 million in loans for the power plant project, which will be located along the Mekong River, the ministry said.
SEOUL, Dec. 6 (Yonhap) -- South Korea should prepare "comprehensive" economic cooperation strategies with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in a bid to better capitalize on the fast-emerging economic bloc, the finance ministry said Tuesday. "With growth outlooks downgrading for advanced countries for this and next year, the global economic status of ASEAN will increase further thanks to its high growth potential, which will help boost demand for economic cooperation," the ministry said in a report.
Office of Commercial Affairs, Royal Thai Embassy in Korea
Source : http://www.depthai.go.th