Invest Korea

According to Yonhap News,

(SEOUL=Yonhap News) Exports by South Korean venture companies have fared relatively well this year, although the country's overall outbound shipments continued to suffer a setback, stung by the continued sluggishness of the global economy, data showed Thursday.

Overseas shipments by local startups came to US$9.99 billion in the first seven months of the year, up 0.8 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to the data by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA).

In July alone, their exports rose 1.7 percent on-year, marking a rise for the third consecutive month following a 9.8 percent on-year gain in May and a 5.8 percent advance in June, the data showed.

Such a modest rise was attributed to increased shipments to the U.S., Japan and Vietnam.

In the January-July period, exports to the U.S. advanced 5 percent on-year to reach $1.37 billion, while the corresponding figure for Vietnam was $1.05 billion, up 11.1 percent from a year earlier.

Shipment to Japan also soared 16.5 percent on-year to reach $906 million over the cited period, the data showed.

However, exports to China dropped 3.5 percent, they showed.

Venture firms' exports soared 50.7 percent on-year in 2010 with the growth rate tumbling to 1.1 percent a year later. Overseas shipments dropped 7.5 percent and 5.9 percent in 2012 and 2013 each before rebounding to a 9.5 percent gain in 2014. Last year, exports climbed 2.5 percent from the previous year.

By product, overseas shipments of semiconductors rose 7.6 percent on-year to amount to $716 million in the first seven months of the year, and those for wireless telecommunication equipment surged 23 percent on-year to $669 million.

South Korea's overall outbound shipments came to $41 billion last month, down 10.2 percent from a year earlier, marking a record 19th straight month that exports decreased since January 2015.

sam@yna.co.kr

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Source: Yonhap News (Aug. 18, 2016)