Jeonbuk Chamber of Commerce and Industry Reports Rapid Growth of 'Carbon Fiber' Exports from Jeonbuk Province in May

The scale of carbon fiber, one of the top 10 export items in the Jeonbuk region, has rapidly increased. Secondary batteries, which are expected to get on track soon, along with new regional food industry sectors, are also expected to follow.

According to the 'May 2023 Jeollabuk-do Trade Trends' released on the 27th by the Korea International Trade Association Jeonbuk Regional Headquarters, exports from the Jeonbuk region in May recorded $652.98 million, down 12.0% compared to the same month last year, while imports recorded $485.08 million, down 11.2%.

The trade balance recorded a surplus of $167.89 million. This was attributed to a base effect caused by last May’s exports reaching the highest level in the past 10 years and a decrease of 1.5 working days.

Trends of 'Jeollabuk-do Export and Import' in May 2023.
[Photo provided by Jeonbuk Federation of International Trade]

The top five export items from Jeonbuk in May were pesticides and pharmaceuticals ($87.08 million, 18.5%), construction and mining machinery ($56.69 million, 8.9%), copper products ($55.02 million, -10.4%), automobiles ($41.75 million, 6.6%), and agricultural machinery ($39.93 million, -23.2%), in that order.

Pesticide products became the largest export item due to increased exports to Brazil and other countries. Construction and mining machinery exports also increased by 28.8% cumulatively through May this year, driven by expanded infrastructure investments mainly in the United States, Russia, and Belgium.

For copper products, which were the largest export item last year, exports to China decreased by more than 33%, resulting in a decline of over 10% compared to last year.

Among the top 10 export items in May, a new item was carbon fiber (synthetic fiber long fiber yarn). Centered on exports to the United States ($9.3 million, 283.9%), it grew by 58.7% compared to the same period last year. The cumulative growth rate this year also showed a high rate of 48.9%.

By country, the highest export performances were recorded in the United States, China, Japan, and Vietnam, in that order. Major export items to the United States ($154.7 million, 0.8%) included agricultural machinery ($36.45 million, -15.6%), construction and mining machinery ($21.92 million, 101.4%), and steel pipes and steel wire ($13.39 million, 54.9%).

Exports to China ($89.27 million, -31.3%) declined due to sluggish exports of paper products ($15.98 million, -9.7%), copper products ($15.15 million, -33.3%), and synthetic resins ($9.35 million, -34.9%). Japan ($34.41 million, -28.5%) recorded plant materials ($6.13 million, -5.3%) as its largest export item, while Vietnam ($30.21 million, -20.9%) had pesticides and pharmaceuticals ($8.73 million, 228.1%) as its largest export item by country.

Park Jun-woo, head of the regional office, said, "Although exports decreased due to the continued decline in exports to China, it is positive that carbon fiber exports, which Jeonbuk Province is focusing on fostering, rapidly increased and were recorded as one of the top 10 export items. We expect that once new regional food industries such as secondary batteries get on track, the scale of exports will grow even larger."

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