Exports Fall Again After Brief Rebound

Korea's daily exports fell 2.5 percent on-year in the first 10 days of this month amid the coronavirus outbreak.

If the trend continues, exports will shrink for another month after a brief rebound in February for the first time in 15 months.

The Korea Customs Service on Wednesday said exports totaled US$13.34 billion from March 1 to 10, an increase of $2.4 billion from the same period last year. But it was largely because there were 1.5 more business days this year. On a daily basis, exports declined 2.5 percent to $1.78 billion on average.

Future prospects are bleak. At the end of last year, the government had expected exports to pick up from February. But the outbreak started to take its toll on Korea’s economy and trade since late January. As it spread rapidly across the globe, exports are likely to suffer further.