"Semiconductor Hit" Large Corporations' Export Amount Decreases by 13.5%... Trade Concentration Eases

On the 18th, Statistics Korea and the Korea Customs Service Announced the '2019 Trade Statistics by Enterprise Characteristics' Results

Panoramic view of Samsung Electronics' Pyeongtaek Line 2 factory, the world's largest semiconductor plant. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] Last year, as export demand for semiconductors and information and communication technology (IT) components declined, the export situation of large corporations worsened further. On the other hand, as the export volume of large corporations decreased, trade concentration showed signs of easing.

According to the "2019 Corporate Characteristics Trade Statistics Results" released on the 18th by Statistics Korea and the Korea Customs Service, South Korea's export volume last year was $541.2 billion, down 10.3% from the previous year. Total imports were $495.5 billion, a decrease of 6.4% compared to one year earlier.

Among the total export volume, exports by large corporations, including corporate groups with total assets of over 10 trillion won and public enterprises, decreased by 13.5% from the previous year, amounting to $347.8 billion. In this regard, Statistics Korea explained, "The decrease in large corporations' exports was significant, centered on capital goods such as semiconductors."

Medium-sized enterprises recorded exports of $93.6 billion, down 4.6% from the previous year, while small and medium enterprises had exports of $99.8 billion, a 3.5% decrease.

As exports by large corporations declined, trade concentration accordingly eased. The export volume of the top 10 companies was $187.5 billion, down 18.0% from the previous year, and the trade concentration, which indicates the proportion of total exports, also decreased by 3.3 percentage points from the previous year to 34.6%. The trade concentration of the top 100 companies increased by 2.7 percentage points from the previous year to 63.7%.

By industry, the concentration phenomenon remained, with exports in the mining and manufacturing sectors, including semiconductors and petrochemicals, decreasing by 10.4% from the previous year to $454.9 billion.

Meanwhile, the average number of export trade items per company last year was 5.8, an increase of 3.2% from the previous year.

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