Industrial Research Institute "Manufacturing Industry Recovers in Q2"... Majority of Sectors 'Clear'

Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade BSI Survey... Sales Outlook Exceeds 100

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] Corporate expectations for economic recovery are reviving. Domestic manufacturers anticipate an improvement in the manufacturing business conditions in the second quarter of this year, and most industries expect sales to increase.

According to the 'Manufacturing Business Survey Index (BSI)' conducted by the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade on 1,014 manufacturing companies nationwide on the 11th, the outlook BSI for business conditions (103) and sales (107) in the second quarter both exceeded 100. This is the first time since the statistics were revised in the third quarter of 2019 that both indices have surpassed 100.

The BSI uses 100 as the baseline; the closer it is to 200, the more it indicates an increase (improvement) compared to the previous quarter, while values near 0 indicate a decrease (deterioration). Exceeding 100 means that more companies have an optimistic outlook on the economy than those who do not.

By detailed industry, the second quarter sales outlook BSI exceeded 100 in most sectors except for shipbuilding (86), textiles (99), and secondary batteries (97). In particular, wireless communication devices (115), home appliances (107), automobiles (108), general machinery (108), chemicals (113), and steel (108) saw double-digit increases compared to the previous quarter.

Both domestic demand (107) and export (109) outlooks rose for the third consecutive quarter, surpassing 100, while facility investment (103) and employment (104) also exceeded 100.

By company size, both large enterprises (110) and small and medium enterprises (106) exceeded 100.

However, the first quarter sales BSI fell to 91 after three quarters. Large enterprises (102) saw a slight decline but remained above 100, while small and medium enterprises recorded 84.

Min Seonghwan, a research fellow at the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, analyzed, "Looking at the first quarter status, sales sluggishness continues, but in the second quarter, thanks to the effects of COVID-19 vaccines, pent-up domestic demand and exports are expected to revive, leading to an increase in companies with an optimistic economic outlook."

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