South Korea trade growth remains positive in Q4 2018

• DHL Global Trade Barometer forecasts air trade to remain at a steady high level, with mild growth for ocean freights
• The country's growth is driven primarily by trade in High Technology, Basic Raw Materials, as well as Personal & Household Goods

SEOUL, KOREA - Media OutReach^[1] - 8 October 2018 - South Korea's trade growth is expected to continue despite a slight decrease of five points on the DHL Global Trade Barometer^[2] released by DHL, the world's leading logistics company. The country's overall index stands at 69 points, the second highest of the four Asian countries surveyed.

The DHL Global Trade Barometer^[3], an early indicator of global trade developments calculated using Artificial Intelligence and Big Data, predicts air trade in South Korea will remain steady at 73 points due to strong exports of High Technology, Basic Materials, and Machinery Parts -- as well as imports of Industrial Raw Materials and Machinery Parts. Ocean imports are also expected to perform well, mainly fueled by Basic Raw Materials, Chemical & Products as well as Personal & Household Goods.

"South Korea's major industries continue to underpin global innovation in technology: exports of memory chips, for example, jumped 31.5% from the year before to help fuel an 8.7% increase in the country's exports in August[1]," said SP Song, Managing Director, DHL Global Forwarding Korea. "The government has also just proposed a 2019 budget of 471 trillion won (US$420 billion) -- the highest increase in 10 years -- with a focus on amplifying employment and innovation, contributing to our positive trade outlook in the months to come.[2]"

The Barometer's results also suggest that despite intensifying global trade disputes, mainly between China and the US, world trade is expected to grow over the next three months albeit at a slower pace. The growth outlook looks positive for all Asia Pacific countries with India leading the ranks, along with optimistic outlooks for South Korea, China, and Japan. This is testament to the Asian economy's resilience, especially in the areas of technology and manufacturing. In the Global Trade Barometer methodology, an index value above 50 indicates positive growth, while values below 50 indicate contraction.

Developed jointly by DHL and Accenture, the DHL Global Trade Barometer^[4] provides a quarterly outlook on future trade, taking into consideration the import and export data of seven large economies: China, South Korea, Germany, India, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Together, these countries account for 75 percent of world trade, making their aggregated data an effective bellwether for near-term predictions on global trade. The DHL Global Trade Barometer, which assesses commodities that serve as the basis for further industrial production, predicts that global trade will continue to grow in the next three months, despite slight losses in momentum.

DHL -- The logistics company for the world

DHL is the leading global brand in the logistics industry. Our DHL family of divisions offer an unrivalled portfolio of logistics services ranging from national and international parcel delivery, e-commerce shipping and fulfillment solutions, international express, road, air and ocean transport to industrial supply chain management. With about 360,000 employees in more than 220 countries and territories worldwide, DHL connects people and businesses securely and reliably, enabling global trade flows. With specialized solutions for growth markets and industries including technology, life sciences and healthcare, energy, automotive and retail, a proven commitment to corporate responsibility and an unrivalled presence in developing markets, DHL is decisively positioned as "The logistics company for the world".

DHL is part of Deutsche Post DHL Group. The Group generated revenues of more than 60 billion euros in 2017.

References

1. ^{^} Media OutReach (www.media-outreach.com)
2. ^{^} DHL Global Trade Barometer (bit.ly)
3. ^{^} DHL Global Trade Barometer (bit.ly)
4. ^{^} DHL Global Trade Barometer (bit.ly)