Korea's exports fall 3.2% in October

10월 수출 419억달러로 작년대비 3.2%↓… 자동차 파업•노트7 단종 영향 Korea's exports,... considered the pillar of the nation's economy... are on the slide again,... after a slight rebound at the end of the summer that was the first in almost two years. Our Kim Min-ji lists out some of the key factors contributing to this trend. Korea's exports continued their downward streak in October. The trade ministry says outbound shipments dipped 3-point-2 percent on-year to 41-point-9 billion U.S. dollars. Exports had dipped for 19 straight months,... turning around for the first time in August,... and then falling again in September. Imports also continued negative growth -- falling 5-point-4 percent to 34-point-8 billion dollars. With that, the trade surplus came to 7-point-2 billion dollars,... extending the country's surplus streak to a 57th straight month. The ministry attributed the slide in October exports to fewer working days,... and unexpected disruptions seen at the country's two major exporters Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor. "These factors resulted in losses of over 2-point-1 billion dollars,... pulling down the overall growth rate in exports by 4-point-9 percentage points." Last month,... Samsung called an end to production and sales of its flagship phablet,... after reports that even replacement Note 7s were catching fire. Over at Hyundai Motor, a general strike over the adoption of performance-based pay dragged down production by 140-thousand cars this year. But some point out... exports didn't fall as sharply as last month's 5-point-9 percent decline, due in part to improvements in other key export items,... such as semiconducters, computers and flat panel displays. "The negative factors have been concentrated in Korea's key sectors. While overall exports are still on track for recovery,... it's important for the country to move to foster new areas of growth,... as well as expand opportunities in markets that are faring better than others, such as India, Vietnam and Iran." "For the remainder of the year,... while the decline in exports is expected to slow,... it will likely still be a tough road ahead,... due to weak growth in the global economy,... as well as a possible rate hike in the U.S. -- which could offset the recovery momentum. Kim Min-ji, Arirang News." Visit ‘Arirang News’ Official Pages Facebook(NEWS): http://www.facebook.com/newsarirang Homepage: http://www.arirang.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/arirangtv Twitter: http://twitter.com/arirangworld Instagram: http://instagram.com/arirangworld