By Kim Tae-gyu, Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff reporters
Korea surpassed its annual trade surplus goal of $23 billion in July, with some forecasting its total surplus will surpass $30 billion.
The surplus of July, the sixth month in a row, was thanks to a global recovery that encouraged consumers in Europe, Latin America and the United States to buy more Korean goods.
Despite the outlook that the global recovery will slow down in the second half of this year, Korea’s export machine is expected to remain robust, likely prompting the government to revise its annual surplus to $30 billion or higher.
According to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy Sunday, Korea recorded $41.4 billion in exports in July, up 29.6 percent from a year ago, and $35.7 billion in imports, up 28.9 percent. Its estimated surplus for July reaches $5.7 billion.
As a result, the cumulative surpluses for the January-July period amounted to $23.3 billion, exceeding the country’s target of $23 billion for the year.
“Our original guidance was $20 billion and it was ratcheted up to $23 billion in May but the revised figure was achieved far earlier than expected thanks to brisk outbound shipments,” ministry official Min Moon-ki told The Korea Times.
“We plan to revise up the goal once again in September, possibly well above the $30 billion mark since the exports of major items such as semiconductors, automobiles and flat-panel displays continue unabated.”
Exports of semiconductors jumped 70.6 percent last month on a year-on-year basis to $4.6 billion as a result of consistent demand. Exports of vehicles and flat-panel displays also rocketed 49.7 percent and 29.8 percent, respectively.
In particular, the nation’s shipbuilding industry bounced back, chalking up a 37.3-percent gain in exports after struggling for a while in the aftermath of the severe global financial crisis.
Yet, exports of mobile phones plunged 18.4 percent from a year ago and those of computers also went down by 18.4 percent. Sales of cell phones have decreased throughout this year.
By region, European countries boosted much of Korea Inc.’s export machine with exports to the region rising 56.9 percent from a year earlier, followed by Latin American nations with 53 percent and the United States with 49.3 percent.
Min of the ministry explained that the mini-crisis generated by the debt-ridden southern European states seems to have little negative effect on the continent’s overall purchasing power of Korean merchandise.
Meanwhile, Korea’s gross domestic product (GDP) is likely to swell to 1,039 trillion won ($873.8 billion) this year, up from 980 trillion won last year, based on the latest growth projections from the Bank of Korea. More significantly, this year’s GDP will nearly double the 539 trillion won recorded just 15 years ago in 1995.
The central bank is expecting the economy to grow 6 percent or more this year, an upward revision from its earlier projection of 5.9 percent growth. The government had also earlier forecast 5.8 percent growth.
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