South Korea exports accelerated in December – “Grows on Demand From China” cited

January 01, 2025 at 10:44PM
South Korea trade data were released on Wednesday:

Exports in December +6.6% y/y

expected +4%, previous +1.4%

When exports are adjusted for the working-day differences they increased 4.3% y/y in December

vs. +3.7% in November

Some of the reports I am seeing cite the improvement on “demand from China increased while semiconductor sales stayed resilient”.

Exports to China +8.6%

to the US +5.5%

to the European Union +15.1%

More good news for China? Maybe. I got a bit interested in the Chinese PMIs earlier this week re China:

China official National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) December 2024 PMIs – why the long face?

There is another PMI due from China today:

Economic calendar in Asia – Thursday, January 2, 2025 – China manufacturing PMI

Back to South Korea’s trade data:

Imports +3.3% y/y

expected +4.6%, previous
-2.4%

Trade Balance 6.49bn

expected 4.21bn, previous
5.586bn

This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at www.forexlive.com.