The trade surplus in September was US $5.97 billion, 92 months in a row

The impact of Japan's export restrictions is limited. The export of cosmetics has increased by 15.1% compared with the same period last year. According to the data of import and export trends in September 2019 released by the Ministry of industry, commerce and resources, in September, the total export reached 44.71 billion US dollars, and the total import reached 38.74 billion US dollars, down 11.7% and 5.6% respectively compared with the same period last year, with a trade surplus of 5.97 billion US dollars, realizing a trade surplus for 92 consecutive months. It is reported that the aggravation of trade disputes between China and the United States and the deterioration of the external environment such as Japan's export restrictions have led to the highest average export and semiconductor export in history on September 2018, and the continuous decline in the price of semiconductor DRAM is the main factor of the decline in exports.

The economic stagnation of the United States, China and Germany leading the world economy continues to spread, led by South Korea. Exports from the world's major countries have also declined. In September, the average export reached 2.18 billion US dollars, which is the highest value in the history of this year. Since July, it has continued to increase, and it has recovered to the level of 2 billion US dollars in only three months. The trade surplus in September also reached a peak of US $5.97 billion this year, even higher than that in 2018 during the period of export improvement. The total volume of goods in September increased by 3.1% year-on-year, the second significant increase after January. The cumulative cargo volume from January to September increased by 0.9% compared with the same period last year, and the overall cargo volume also showed a steady growth momentum. In September, the export unit price dropped 14.4% year-on-year, a new low this year. Major products such as automobiles, wireless communications, auto parts, ships, home appliances and new export growth categories such as cosmetics, biological health care, batteries, agricultural and aquatic products also maintained a good momentum. Cosmetics exports increased by 15.1% year on year. Under the influence of intensified trade disputes between China and the United States, exports to China and the United States decreased by 21.8% and 2.2% respectively, while under the influence of efforts to open up diversified export markets, the new northern region, the European Union and Latin America increased by 41.3%, 10.6% and 10.8% respectively.

In particular, Japan's restrictions on the export of three raw materials have no actual impact on production, so the impact on exports is limited. From July to September, although exports and imports to Japan decreased by 4.1% and 8.4% respectively, they basically kept the average level in 2019, and the trade balance was also the same as the monthly average. It is reported that compared with the decrease of South Korea's exports to Japan in August, Japan's exports to South Korea decreased more significantly, so Japan was more affected. In addition, after the export restriction, according to the analysis of the proportion of the other countries in the world export to Korea and Japan, the proportion of Korea in Japan's export is restricted by export, but it shows a trend of growth. In order to reverse the export atmosphere, the government will not relax its full support for the unity between the government and the people. In the future, it will not only enhance the export vitality in the short term, but also continue to promote the four major reforms of the export structure, so as to fundamentally strengthen the export competitiveness and improve the export structure. In the fourth quarter, we will invest 789.2 billion won in the field of overseas marketing, trade and finance, fully support 1350 export enterprises, and plan to develop countermeasures to strengthen export competitiveness according to different fields such as trade service industry.