SEOUL—South Korea’s current account surplus dropped in September due to soaring import costs, driven by higher energy prices, as well as export fall, central bank data showed Tuesday.
Current account balance, the broadest measure of cross-border trade, recorded a surplus of $1.61 billion in September, down from a surplus of $10.51 billion tallied in the same month of last year, according to the Bank of Korea.
Trade balance for goods logged a surplus of 490 million dollars in September, sharply down from a surplus of 9.55 billion dollars a year earlier.
Import costs jumped in recent months as the prolonged geopolitical risks in Europe propped up energy prices.
Imports advanced 18 percent from a year earlier to 56.59 billion dollars in September, while export shrank 0.7 percent to 57.09 billion dollars.
Energy imports expanded 25.3 percent in the cited month. Natural gas imports more than doubled, and imports for crude oil and coal grew by double figures.
Imports for capital goods increased 10.6 percent on solid demand for transport equipment and semiconductors, and consumer goods import jumped 13.0 percent on higher demand for grain and cars.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s domestic supply in the manufacturing industry grew in the third quarter due to higher import of manufacturing products, statistical office data showed Tuesday.
The index for domestic manufacturing supply, including production at home and imported manufacturing products, stood at 110.9 in the July-September quarter, up 5.3 percent from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea.
It continued to increase for the seventh consecutive quarter since the first quarter of 2021.
The products supplied by local manufacturers gained 2.1 percent in the third quarter, marking the first growth in five quarters. Xinhua
The import of manufacturing products jumped 13.0 percent in the cited quarter.
The proportion of imports to the total domestic manufacturing supply added 2.0 percentage points over the year to 32.2 percent in the third quarter, logging the highest since data began to be compiled in 2010.
The domestic supply of intermediate goods, such as materials and components used for manufacturing production, rose 6.3 percent in the third quarter, keeping an upward trend for the eighth successive quarter.
The supply of consumer and capital goods increased 5.0 percent and 2.6 percent respectively. Xinhua