[FETV=권지현 기자] Korea’s exports have entered a full recovery. Last month, it achieved an average daily export value of $2.29 billion, the highest performance in nine years. With biohealth and automobiles driving overall export growth, it is predicted that recovery will continue for the time being.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on the 1st that last month’s exports amounted to $44.8 billion, an increase of 9.5% from a year ago. This is the highest performance in 9 years since February 2012 ($43.2 billion). This year, as the Lunar New Year holiday is in February, it achieved a good record even though the number of working days was 3 days shorter than the same month last year.
The average export value was $2.29 billion, an increase of 26.4% compared to the same period last year, the highest in February. It has grown for 4 consecutive months, with 3.9% in November of last year, 12.4% in December, 11.4% in January this year, and 9.5% in February. In the case of daily average exports, it has grown for 5 consecutive months. The growth rate last month (26.4%) was the largest in 40 months since October 2017. Accordingly, Korean exports have been on the rise again this year after successful rebound in the second half of last year.
Among the 15 major items, exports of 11 items increased. Biohealth (62.5%) saw the biggest increase in exports last month, followed by automobiles (47.0%), petrochemicals (22.4%), and displays (19.1%). In addition, exports of home appliances (13.3%), semiconductors (13.2%), wireless communication devices (10.3%), auto parts (8.9%), ships (4.0%), and steel (3.8%) also increased.
Trade experts believe that such strong exports will continue for the time being as expectations for the global economy and trade recovery grow. However, it is diagnosed that there is still uncertainty about changes in the export environment, such as the prolongation of Corona 19 and the spread of protectionism, so it is not a situation that can be relieved. They predicted that the new US Biden government will actively introduce trade relief measures to protect its own industries at the ‘1st FTA Strategic Forum’ held by the government recently.
Meanwhile, in response to such changes in the trade environment, the government plans to announce a comprehensive export support plan that encompasses the trade system, export finance, and market development in order to turn exports to an uptrend this year and recover $1 trillion in trade.