South Korea: Trade data improve in April – UOB

Economist at UOB Group Ho Woei Chen, CFA, reviews the latest flash trade data for the month of April.

Key Quotes

“South Korea’s first 20-day April export and import jumped by 45.4% y/y and 31.3% y/y, up from March’s 12.4% and 16.2% respectively. The gains were driven largely by a low comparison base and an additional working day in April this year compared to last year. However, comparing the data against April 2019 still yielded positive growth of 4.2% for exports and 6.7% for imports which suggests that trade has continued to recover.”

“Other than commodities, South Korea also recorded double-digit gains in imports of semiconductors and machinery which bodes well for investment and production ahead.”

“We maintain our positive outlook for South Korea’s export and investment this year. Barring economic disruption from another wave of coronavirus infection, we see upside risk to our 2021 GDP forecast at 3.3%. The Bank of Korea (BOK) said it sees possibility for the economy to achieve mid-3.0% growth this year and is due to update its forecasts in May.”