As imports from Korea and Japan rose concurrently, the import growth rate in August significantly outpaced imports and exports.
South Korea's exports in August were $53.23 billion, an increase of 34.9% from the same period of the previous year, and imports were $51.56 billion, up 44.0%, a surplus for the 16th consecutive month.
In the early to mid-August (days 1-20), exports surged 37.0% year-on-year to 4.15.5 trillion yen, and imports surged 44.5%, resulting in a 4.693.2 trillion yen trade deficit.
Korea's exports in July increased by 26.3% and imports increased by 35%, while Japan's exports increased by 37% and imports increased by 28.5% in August, resulting in an increase in imports of crude oil, pharmaceuticals, and non-ferrous metals in August.
The increase in exports to Korea and Japan is similar to the increase in exports of manufacturing equipment such as automobile semiconductors, and while Korea's exports are concentrated on petrochemicals (81.5%) on the back of rising international oil prices, Japan's auto parts exports are strong.
In terms of imports, Japan showed a strong increase in crude iron ore to 6.915.4 trillion yen, up 28.5% in July. increased.
Korea's August exports increased for the 14th consecutive month with a 43.0% increase in semiconductors, where demand for memory is booming, petrochemicals (81.5%) are the largest monthly increase in international oil prices, and export of high-end automobiles is the third highest in history.
As for the export growth rate, wireless communication devices increased by 376% in China, rechargeable batteries in the US (243%) and petrochemicals (101%) in the EU. It was announced that it dropped 41% from 261 trillion won in 2013 to 153 trillion won in 2019, and memory semiconductor exports to China reached $28.37 billion last year, a 29.1% drop from 2018 ($40 billion).
According to the FKI, the total sales of 30 Korean conglomerates in China were 117.1 trillion won last year, a decrease of 6.9% from 125.8 trillion won in 2016. It declined sharply to 4.0%.
About Samsung Electronics, 'News 1' reported on the 7th that Samsung Electronics ranked 13th in the '2021 Global Brand Top 100' of UK 'FutureBrand' and fell 10 steps from 3rd place last year. TSMC, a Taiwanese semiconductor company, announced on the 7th. It jumped from 25th to 6th this year, and China and Japan's Wulangye (24th), Sony (27th), Meituan (32th), and SoftBank (79th) entered the top 100.
As Korea's imports increased more rapidly than exports, it acted as a domestic price increase due to a slowdown in the balance of goods.
The Bank of Korea's commodity balance in July was $5.73 billion, down $1.28 billion (-18.3%) from June, and $1.89 billion (-24.8%) lower than the same month last year.
Exports in July were $54.31 billion, an increase of $11.32 billion compared to the same period of the previous year, but imports surged 35% to $48.58 billion, increasing by $12.6 billion, worsening the product balance.