South Korea's exports staying resilient against Omicron headwinds

[SEOUL] South Korea's early trade figures offered signs that global demand is remaining robust in February, even as the value of shipments rose by the smallest amount in almost a year.

Exports advanced 13.1 per cent in the first 20 days of the month from the previous year, led by semiconductors and oil products, the customs office reported Monday. Overall imports rose 12.9 per cent, resulting in a trade deficit of US$1.68 billion.

While the export gain was the smallest since March, the value of average daily shipments was only slightly down at 17.2 per cent from the corresponding January figure, indicating that after the number of working days was factored in, the trend was largely unchanged.

That result points to the resilience of global commerce to the threat of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. Korea's trade data are a barometer of global economic activity as the nation's manufacturers are positioned widely across supply chains. The latest report supports the Bank of Korea's assessment that exports will keep underpinning the economy this year, as the bank persists along a path to policy normalisation.

While demand for South Korean goods remains solid in the face of virus concerns, inflationary pressures coupled with geopolitical risks have been squeezing the nation's importers, who often supply the equipment and materials exporters need to assemble their products.

The pace of monthly export growth has been easing since May as a favourable base effect fades. Trade deficits have also emerged as a concern for South Korea, with the currency one of the worst performers in Asia over recent months. In January, South Korea posted its biggest trade deficit in more than three decades.

The data showed that exports to China, Korea's largest overseas market, rose 12.4 per cent. Shipments to the US advanced 7 per cent, while those to the European Union climbed 2.8 per cent. Overall semiconductor shipments increased 18.1 per cent, while sales of wireless communications devices fell 17.7 per cent. Exports of oil products gained 56 per cent.

BLOOMBERG