S. Korean IT exports fall 7.6 pct in Aug.

By Lee Joon-seung
SEOUL, Sept. 6 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's exports of information technology (IT)
products fell 7.6 percent on-year in August due to a general decline in demand
brought on by the global economic downturn, a government report showed Sunday.
Exports of semiconductors, mobile phones and other IT products totaled US$10.6
billion last month, with imports dropping 12.9 percent to just under $5.5 billion
for a surplus of $5.1 billion, according to the report by the Ministry of
Knowledge Economy.
While August's outbound shipments fell compared to the year before, when the
total topped $11.4 billion, export volume exceed the $10 billion mark for the
third straight month, indicating outbound shipments are making a comeback.
The report also said that the size of negative growth has decreased from minus
38.7 percent in January to 19.6 percent in April and a contraction of 10.2
percent on-year in July.
"Last month marked the first time this year that single digit minus growth was
posted compared to the year before," said Seo Seok-jin, head of the ministry's IT
policy coordination division.
He said for the eight months of this year, IT exports reached $74.1 billion, with
imports topping $39.3 billion for a surplus of $34.8 billion.
Of the three top-selling IT products, exports of display panels gained 7.7
percent on-year to $2.5 billion last month, thanks mainly to various economic
stimulus packages introduced by foreign governments, Seo said.
Overseas sales of mobile phones and semiconductors, however, declined 17.9
percent and 7.2 percent to $2.3 billion and $2.8 billion, respectively.
The ministry in charge of the country's industrial policy and trade promotion
said China and Hong Kong were the biggest importers of Korean-made IT products
last month, buying more than $4.6 billion worth of goods, followed by the United
States and the European Union that bought around $1.3 billion worth of products
each.
Outbound shipments to Japan and Latin America stood at $600 million and $640
million last month.
Meanwhile, the report showed that while IT exports in the first eight months of
this year fell short of last year's tally, the decline of 19.4 percent was better
than the 22.0 percent on-year drop reported for the all outbound shipments in the
same period.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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