À̹ÌÁö È®´ë South Korea¡¯s industrial output and factory inactivity was at their weakest in 11 years in April due to poor external demand from virus pandemic.
According to Statistics Korea on Friday, the seasonally adjusted mining and manufacturing output in April fell 6.0 percent from a month ago, the biggest month-on-month loss since December 2008 in the aftermath of Wall Street Meltdown.
Against a year earlier, factory output slipped 4.5 percent.
Factory operation averaged at 68.6 percent, down 5.7 percentage points from a month ago to its weakest since February 2009 as shipments fell 7.2 percent. Inventory declined 0.4 percent on month.
The sagging industrial data kept the markets mixed. As of 10:32 a.m. Friday, the main Kospi was down 0.63 percent at 2,015.77, and the Korean won rose 0.60 to 1,239.40 against the U.S. dollar.
Chip production shriveled 15.6 percent from March due to virus-driven slowdown in the global economy. Output in automobile sector contracted 13.4 percent on month due to factory shutdowns. Shipment of machinery rose 3.8 percent despite overall lethargy in industrial production.
À̹ÌÁö È®´ë Service sector activity, an indicator for domestic demand, added 0.5 percent against March as people began to eat out more and travel around the country amid easing in virus spread.
Retail sales - a barometer for private consumption – gained 5.3 percent amid easing in virus infections across the country. Durable goods like automobiles were up 4.1 percent thanks to expanded tax breaks on car purchases and new releases. Non-durable goods like cosmetics rose 1.6 percent and semi-durable goods like clothing jumped 20 percent.
Capital investment grew 5.0 percent on month due to a gain of 13.6 percent in investment in transportation equipment and a gain of 1.8 percent in machineries orders.
Both coincident and leading indicators measuring present and future economic activities to suggest direction of where the business cycle is at or heading remained negative.
The coincident index slipped by 1.3 points on month to 97.3, marking its third straight month of fall. The leading indicator also retreated by 0.5 point on month, sliding also for three months in a row.
By Lee Ha-yeon
[¨Ï Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]