Far Road Ahead for 'Future' Biohealth and Secondary Batteries... 3% Contribution to Exports in 2019

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] "This year, exports of biohealth and secondary batteries will increase rapidly by more than 5%." "However, it is still too early to say that these two industries are our immediate sources of livelihood."

The government and the market showed clear differences in perspective regarding the export-import performance of the biohealth and secondary battery industries last year.

Last year, biohealth exports amounted to $8.832 billion, an 8.5% increase compared to the previous year, while secondary batteries reached $7.418 billion, up 2.7%. These accounted for 1.6% and 1.4% respectively of the total exports of $542.413 billion.

When narrowed down to December alone, the growth rate was higher. Biohealth exports were $870 million, an 11% increase from $780 million in the same period last year. Secondary batteries also recorded $660 million, a 7.5% increase year-on-year, thanks to the efforts of companies like LG Chem and Samsung SDI.

The government regards these two industries as new growth momentum for the Korean economy and positively evaluated the growth related to these sectors.

Biohealth saw ▲ the launch of new biosimilars in the U.S., ▲ increased demand for dental and cosmetic medical devices in China, Russia, and Southeast Asia, and ▲ diversification of export destinations for botulinum toxin (Botox), resulting in four consecutive months of export growth.

Despite the full-scale operation of European battery manufacturing plants, secondary batteries experienced ▲ increased battery demand from European original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for automotive parts, ▲ the full-scale supply of new lithium-ion electric vehicle (EV) models, and ▲ expanded overseas supply of energy storage systems (ESS), leading to a turnaround in export growth.

Jo Ikno, Director of Export-Import at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, said, "New industries such as biohealth and secondary batteries have grown as new export growth engines replacing mainstay items like electric vehicles and hydrogen cars. In particular, biohealth exports have increased for 10 consecutive years, and secondary batteries for 4 consecutive years. Last year, their export volumes surpassed those of traditional mainstay items like home appliances and computers. We expect a rapid growth rate of more than 5% again next year."

The market and academia generally agreed with the government's interpretation but expressed somewhat cautious responses.

Professor Sung Tae-yoon of Yonsei University’s Department of Economics stated, "While traditional mainstay export items such as displays and petrochemicals have lost international competitiveness, biohealth and secondary batteries have not advanced as much as expected. Our economy still needs to further enhance the competitiveness of existing main industries."

Hong Chun-wook, adjunct professor at Soongsil University, said, "Since Korea is a country with a trade volume exceeding $1 trillion, it is premature to consider biohealth and secondary batteries as our immediate sources of livelihood. While I agree with the proposition that these promising future industries should succeed, considering recent secondary battery ESS fire accidents, there are still many challenges to be resolved."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.