SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea posted a record monthly trade deficit of $12.7 billion in January as exports of computer chips and other high-tech goods plummeted and oil and gas import costs soared, it said. the Department of Commerce said on Wednesday. .
The widening shortage highlights how Russia’s war on Ukraine is straining the global economy, with prices of key commodities such as oil and nickel remaining high after receding from their 2022 surge. There is
South Korea’s export-dependent economy has posted 11 consecutive months of deficits, the longest consecutive deficit since 1997 on the brink of the Asian financial crisis.
Exports of computer chips, South Korea’s most important product, fell nearly 45% year-on-year last month due to slowing demand and falling chip prices, according to South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
Trade data comes after South Korean semiconductor giant Samsung Electronics reported Earnings plunged nearly 70% in the fourth quarter as the business environment for semiconductors and consumer electronics deteriorated “significantly.”
Chip manufacturing is highly cyclical, and the tech industry has gone from a severe shortage to an oversupply of many computer chips, which is felt in many industries, including automobile manufacturing.
Samsung said chip prices plummeted amid weakening demand as customers adjusted inventories in the face of “increasing uncertainty” in the global economy.
On Wednesday, another major South Korean chipmaker, SK Hynix, reported an operating loss of 1.7 trillion won ($1.4 billion) for the October-December period, its first quarterly loss since 2012.
“As uncertainty remains, we will continue to reduce investments and costs while minimizing the impact of the downturn by prioritizing markets with high growth potential,” the company said in a statement. .
SK Hynix announced in October plans to cut its investment by more than half in 2023 compared to 19 trillion won ($15 billion) in 2022.
The country’s exports fell by nearly 17% year-on-year in January, with modest increases in sales of cars, petroleum products and ships, but could not offset a sharp drop in semiconductor shipments, according to the Commerce Ministry.
The country, which relies heavily on imports for its energy supply, spent about $16 billion last month on fuel, gas and coal purchases. This is well above the average $10 billion the country spent importing these items in his January of the past decade, said Moon Dong-min, a senior trade official. rice field.
“The global economy is still in a slump due to the contractionary policies of major economies and the prolongation of Russia’s war with Ukraine,” Moon said at a press conference.
He said the war has left countries suffering from rising prices and slowing growth, but has also taken a similar toll on other economies that rely on industrial exports, such as China, Japan and Germany. Stated.
Moon said the global semiconductor market is likely to remain sluggish in the coming months after existing inventories are depleted before rebounding later this year.
President Moon said, “If semiconductor exports recover, it will be of great help in recovering our country’s (country’s) exports.”
