Export orders in Korea decreased in August, manufacturing costs in Japan rose, and Chinese factories in all three countries contracted together.
The Korean manufacturing industry saw a decline in export orders in August, cost pressures increased on the Japanese manufacturing industry, and factory activity in all three countries, including China, contracted simultaneously.
Market research firm Trend Force announced on the 31st in its August DRAM market survey that “DDR4 product prices are continuing to fall due to high inventory from suppliers.”
Reuters reported on the 1st that the Japanese manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) was 49.6 last month, unchanged from the previous month, but falling slightly from the forecast figure of 49.7 and showing contraction.
China's official PMI showed contraction for the fifth straight month in August.
The manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) compiled by S&P Global weakened at a faster pace in August in South Korea, extending its longest recession on record by another month as export orders fell again, Reuters reported on the 1st.
The PMI index indicates contraction when the threshold that distinguishes between growth and contraction falls below 50.0, and Korea has been contracting for three consecutive months.
Data from S&P Global Market Intelligence shows that in Korea, production and new orders remained contracted in August, but the ‘order decline’ slowed slightly compared to July.
South Korea's production prices have been falling for four consecutive months due to competitive pressures and customer negotiations, and supplier delivery times worsened in August for the first time in five months.
Reuters found that Korean companies reported delivery delays and semiconductor shortages.
Japan's factory activity suffered a series of contractions as cost pressure increased due to raw material price inflation and wage increases, and the depreciation of the yen exceeded 145 yen, putting pressure on manufacturers.
“The yen has been under pressure in recent months due to the Bank of Japan’s ultra-loose monetary policy, which in turn has inflated the cost of imports,” Reuters said.
The decline in factory activity in China was driven by weak demand for capital goods and electronic devices.
Korea's exports in August fell for the 11th consecutive month, and imports fell even further.
In June, the trade balance continued to be in surplus for three consecutive months due to the decline in imports, but the trade deficit grew during the first half of the year and the cumulative deficit as of August this year was $23.97 billion.
Semiconductor exports, which had fueled expectations of a rebound, plunged 20.6% from the same period last year to $8.56 billion in August.
Export growth was led by automobiles, with exports of $5.29 billion last month, an increase of 28.7%, the highest August performance ever and the 14th consecutive month of export growth.
August exports to China, Korea's largest export destination, amounted to $10.5 billion, down 19.9% from the same period last year.
Exports to the United States amounted to $8.96 billion, a slight increase of 2.4%, and exports to ASEAN decreased by 11%.
In August, imports amounted to $51 billion, down 22.8% from a year ago due to a larger decline in energy imports.
Reuters marked South Korea's 11th straight month of export declines with exports falling at a less steep pace in August than the previous month and market expectations, raising hopes that the economy's core trade engine is starting to turn a corner, although doubts remain about weak demand from China. It was said that it caused.
DRAM Exchange, a market research firm, revealed that the fixed transaction price of DDR4 8 Gigabit (Gb) 1G*8 products, a general-purpose DRAM product for PC, was $1.30 on average in August, down 2.99% from the previous month and double from the same month last year ($2.85). Due to the above plunge, it was announced on the 31st. The fixed transaction price of this product, which was the flagship product of Samsung and SK, continued to decline from January ($1.81), and the decline increased for five consecutive months starting in April.
Korean securities firms and the government announced that Samsung DRAM semiconductor inventory was at its lowest point as of last May.
NAND flash prices have been the same for three months since May, with the fixed transaction price of $3.82 for the 128Gb 16G*8 multi-level cell (MLC) general-purpose NAND product for memory cards at the end of August.
This product, which is also Korea's flagship product, has not been able to escape the decline to below the $3 range since March.
The average fixed transaction price of DDR5 16Gb 2G*8 products, the next version of DDR4 in high stock in Korea, was $3.40, up 7.26% from $3.17 the previous month.
DDR5, which has raised expectations from Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, is leading the transition from DDR4 to DDR5 as Intel and AMD successively release compatible central processing units (CPUs).