Industrial demand for electricity hits near 34 year high in Jan.

SEOUL, Feb. 16 (Yonhap) -- Industrial demand for electricity surged to a near
34-year high in January, due mainly to growth in the export manufacturing sector
and an increased number of working days, the government said Tuesday.

Sales of electricity for industrial use totaled 19.42 million megawatt-hours last
month, up 24.0 percent from the same month a year earlier, according to the
Ministry of Knowledge Economy. The rise marked the largest on-year expansion
since February 1976 when demand shot up 25.0 percent annually.
The ministry attributed the spike to a 47.1 percent rise in the country's exports
for the one month period, one additional working day and a negative 11.0 percent
growth in electricity demand in the first month of last year.
The rise in the number of working days last month was caused by the Lunar New
Year falling in February this year from January in 2009.
Power demand from the steel sector jumped 43.0 from a year ago, while demand from
the machinery manufacturing and automobile sectors rose 31.7 percent and 49.4
percent, respectively, the ministry added.
Electricity used by semiconductor, chemical and textile manufacturers and
shipbuilders also moved up by more than 10 percent.
Industrial power sales cover both manufacturing and mining businesses, and
account for roughly half of all domestic electricity sales provided by the
state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. They are a barometer of industrial health
because companies use more electricity during times when business is good and cut
back to cope with falls in orders.
Country-wide sales of electricity last month rose 15.6 percent compared with the
same period a year before to 39.71 million megawatt-hours. The rise was triggered
in part by a cold spell that gripped the country and marks the second straight
month that sales increased by double digits.
Overall sales include power used by educational institutions, homes, farms and
for public use such as streetlights.
The Korea Meteorological Administration said that average temperatures for
January stood at minus 1.6 C, 0.6 C lower than normal.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
(END)

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