Looking at July Customs Clearance Indicators... Both Diagnostic Kits and Vaccines Export ↓

Performance Diverges Among Diagnostic Kit Companies... Entering the 'Sorting Wheat from Chaff' Phase
Poor Vaccine Exports... Recovery Expected Ahead of Fall Flu Season

Diagnostic Kit Customs Service Export Data (Provided by Customs Service, Hana Financial Investment)

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] It has been revealed that exports of diagnostic kits and vaccines related to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) decreased last month. As the performance among diagnostic kit companies varied, it is interpreted that the industry is sorting out the wheat from the chaff. Although vaccine exports declined, it is expected that export amounts will increase as countries strive to prevent the simultaneous outbreak of autumn flu and COVID-19.

On the 17th, Hana Financial Investment analyzed this based on statistical data from the Korea Customs Service. According to the Korea Customs Service's announcement as of midnight on the 15th, the export amount of diagnostic kits in July was recorded at $136.64 million (approximately 162.3 billion KRW) based on the date of clearance. This represents a 605% increase compared to the same period last year but an 18.6% decrease compared to the previous month. After peaking at $267.06 million in April, the figures have been declining monthly by -29.4% in May and -10.9% in June. However, the provisional cumulative figure for the first 10 days announced on the 11th showed an increase of about 13.5% compared to the same period last month. This suggests that the downward trend may have been broken.

In fact, the export amount of diagnostic kits in Songpa-gu, Seoul, where the leading diagnostic kit company Seegene is located, was $48.12 million based on the date of shipment in July. This was actually a 3.0% increase compared to the previous month. Meanwhile, in Anyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, where Osang Healthcare is located, the export amount in April was comparable to that of Songpa-gu, Seoul, but in July it decreased by 76.7% compared to the previous month. Minjung Sun, a researcher at Hana Financial Investment, interpreted, "As the spread of COVID-19 has become somewhat familiar, unlike before, it seems that diagnostic kit manufacturing companies are now being sorted out."

Vaccine Korea Customs Service Export Data (Provided by Korea Customs Service, Hana Financial Investment)

The export amount of vaccines in July was $6.77 million based on the date of shipment, down about 31.1% compared to the previous year. The vaccine export amount in Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, where Green Cross is located, was $1.84 million based on the date of shipment, down 11.7% compared to the previous year. Nevertheless, the outlook is not bad. Researcher Sun predicted, "Although Green Cross's vaccine export amount in July seems somewhat sluggish, due to the efforts of Northern Hemisphere countries to avoid the worst-case scenario of simultaneous outbreaks of COVID-19 and influenza viruses in autumn, the export amount of flu vaccines in August and September will increase significantly."

The export amount of toxins was also $16.98 million based on the date of clearance, down 13.8% compared to July of the previous year. However, considering that exports to the United States were $3.92 million in July last year, exports excluding the U.S. increased by 7.3% compared to the previous year. In particular, Brazil and Thailand, which had been sluggish due to the impact of COVID-19, increased toxin imports by 29.8% and 16.2% respectively compared to the previous year. The largest export country, China, also continued its growth trend with an increase of about 12.6% compared to the previous year.

Toxin Customs Service Export Data (Provided by Customs Service, Hana Financial Investment)

Exports to the United States amounted to $54,000. In the U.S., since the International Trade Commission (ITC) preliminarily ruled a 10-year import ban on 'Nabota' due to Daewoong Pharmaceutical infringing on Medytox's trade secrets, exports have been minimal since April. Researcher Sun forecasted, "Toxin exports, which were sluggish in the first quarter due to the impact of COVID-19, are expected to continue recovering in the third quarter following the second quarter."

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