It has been confirmed that exports of South Korea’s ICT (Information Communication Technology) showed clear recovery during second half of 2016. ICT’s major products such as semiconductors and displays are helping South Korea’s entire exports. Exports in last December forecasted clear recovery in exports in 2017 as they recorded two-digit increase rate after 38 months.
Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) made an announcement on the 25th that amount of exports from ICT was $162.5 billion in 2016. This is a value that is 6.0% lower than amount of exports in 2015 when it was $172.87 billion.
Exports of ICT are showing signs of recovery as reduction trend of exports started to decrease during second half of 2016. Amount of exports during first half of 2016 was $76.38 billion which is 10.4% decrease from 2015. However amount of exports during second half of 2016 was $86.12 billion and it eased reduction trend as it was only 1.7% decrease from 2015. Sign of recovery was clear in December as amount of exports in December was $14.74 billion which was 13.3% increase from previous month.
Amount of exports of major items such as displays and semiconductors in 2016 decreased from amount in 2015. Amount of exports of semiconductors in 2016 was $28.69 billion and it decreased 1.1% from previous year. Amount of exports of displays in 2016 was $27.44 billion and it decreased 15.6% from previous year.
However reduction trend in exports of major products was clearly reduced during second half of 2016. While reduction trend for semiconductors was -7.4% during first half of 2016, this trend turned into positive trend of 5.1% during second half of 2016. Also reduction trend for displays was greatly improved from -26.1% during first half to -4.1% during second half. MOTIE believes that increase in exports of new promising products such as OLEDs and SSDs (Solid State Drive) has led recovery in overall exports.
While amount of exports to the U.S. and Vietnam increased, amount of exports to China decreased. In 2016, $17.5 billion worth of products was exported to the U.S. This is a value that is increased by 6.3% compared to previous year. Amount of exports to Vietnam in 2016 was $16.1 billion and it increased 34.0% from previous year. On the other hand, amount of exports to China in 2016 was $85.46 billion and it decreased 9.1% from previous year.
MOTIE predicts that exports of ICT, which had been negative for past two years, will turn into positive in 2017 and that software IT services will continue to grow and growth of semiconductors and displays will recover. However it is predicted that advanced countries’ protectionism and rising nations’ unstable economies will act as variables in 2017.
Staff Reporter Byun, Sanggeun | sgbyun@etnews.com
<■Increase rate in exports of major ICT products in 2016
▲Amount of exports during first half of 2016 ΔEntire ICT: $76.38 billion ΔSemiconductor: $28.69 billion ΔCellphone: $12.64 billion ΔComputer and surround devices: $3.57 billion ΔSSD: $1.58 billion ΔDisplay: $12.53 billion ΔOLED: $2.87 billion
▲Rate of change during first half of 2016 ΔEntire ICT: -10.4% ΔSemiconductor: -7.4% ΔCellphone: -5.7% ΔComputer and surrounding devices: -2.0% ΔSSD: -16.9% ΔDisplay: -26.1% ΔOLED: 16.6%
▲ Amount of exports during second half of 2016 ΔEntire ICT: $86.12 billion ΔSemiconductor: $33.54 billion ΔCellphone: $11.70 billion ΔComputer and surround devices: $4.01 billion ΔSSD: $2.21 billion ΔDisplay: $14.91 billion ΔOLED: $3.33 billion
▲ Rate of increase during second half of 2016 ΔEntire ICT: -1.7% ΔSemiconductor: 5.1% ΔCellphone: -25.2% ΔComputer and surrounding devices: 18.5% ΔSSD: 38.6% ΔDisplay: -4.1% ΔOLED: 22.0%
▲ Amount of exports during entire 2016 ΔEntire ICT: $162.5 billion ΔSemiconductor: $62.23 billion ΔCellphone: $24.34 billion ΔComputer and surround devices: $7.61 billion ΔSSD: $3.79 billion ΔDisplay: $27.44 billion ΔOLED: $6.20 billion
▲ Rate of increase during entire 2016 ΔEntire ICT: -6.0% ΔSemiconductor: -1.1% ΔCellphone: -16.2% ΔComputer and surrounding devices: 7.9% ΔSSD: 8.3% ΔDisplay: -15.6% ΔOLED: 19.4%
Reference: MOTIE
><■Current state of major countries where South Korea’s ICT is exported to in 2015 and 2016
▲Amount of exports to a particular country in 2015 ΔChina (Hong Kong): $93.98 billion ΔU.S.: $16.46 billion ΔVietnam: $$12.02 billion ΔJapan: $5.15 billion ΔSingapore: $4.66 billion ΔTaiwan: $4.57 billion ΔMexico: $4.28 billion ΔPhilippines: $3.54 billion ΔIndia: $2.68 billion ΔBrazil: $2.36 billion ΔTotal amount of exports from these 10 countries: $149.70 billion ΔTotal of exports of ICT: $172.87 billion
▲Percentage of exports to a particular country out of 100% in 2015 ΔChina (Hong Kong): 54.4% ΔU.S.: 9.5% ΔVietnam: 7.0% ΔJapan: 3.0% ΔSingapore: 2.7% ΔTaiwan: 2.6% ΔMexico: 2.5% ΔPhilippines: 2.0% ΔIndia: 1.5% ΔBrazil: 1.4% ΔTotal percentages from these 10 countries: 86.6% ΔTotal percentages of exports of ICT: 100.0%
▲ Amount of exports to a particular country in 2016 ΔChina (Hong Kong): $85.46 billion ΔU.S.: $17.50 billion ΔVietnam: $16.10 billion ΔTaiwan: $4.48 billion ΔJapan: $4.19 billion ΔSingapore: $4.14 billion ΔMexico: $3.02 billion ΔPhilippines: $2.96 billion ΔIndia: $2.43 billion ΔBrazil: $1.93 billion ΔTotal of these 10 countries: $142.21 billion ΔTotal of exports of ICT: $162.50 billion
▲ Percentage of exports to a particular country out of 100% in 2016 ΔChina (Hong Kong): 52.6% ΔU.S.: 10.8% ΔVietnam: 9.9% ΔTaiwan: 2.8% ΔJapan: 2.6% ΔSingapore: 2.5% ΔMexico: 1.9% ΔPhilippines: 1.8% ΔIndia: 1.5% ΔBrazil: 1.2% ΔTotal percentages from these 10 countries: 87.5% ΔTotal percentages of exports of ICT: 100.0%
Reference: MOTIE>
