Korea’s factory output gains 1.1% in April

[Photo by Yonhap]

South Korea’s factory output gained in April after a sharp fall in March, thanks to increased spending in the service sector, data showed on Friday.

According to data released by Statistics Korea, the country’s industrial output index increased 1.1 percent in April from a month earlier. The gain came after a 2.3 percent decline in March after four straight months of growth since November 2023.

The mining and manufacturing output increased 2.2 percent, with manufacturing production, which accounts for the majority of mining and manufacturing production, gaining 2.8 percent.

Auto production, in particular, gained 8.1 percent in April, the steepest increase since an 8.7 percent increase in January 2023.

Semiconductor production, on the other hand, fell 4.4 percent in April from a month ago. Against a year-ago period, the output was up 22.3 percent.

“Semiconductor production seems to have been affected by the base effect of the previous increase,” said Gong Mi-sook, a director at Statistics Korea. “It rose more than 20 percent year-on-year, and the industry itself is in good shape, so it remains to be seen if this is a correction.”

Retail sales, a gauge of private consumption, fell 1.2 percent from a month earlier due to a 5.8 percent contraction in durable goods sales, driven by a fall in passenger cars, telecommunication devices, computers, and furniture.

[Graphics by Song Ji-yoon]

Service output, which reflects service consumption, rose 0.3 percent.

“Overall, production did well in April, but consumption failed to keep up, indicating different recovery speeds across sectors,” Gong said.

Facility investment fell 0.2 percent in April from a month earlier due to an increase in transportation equipment investment but a decrease in machinery investment.

The value of construction completed, which represents the actual construction performance of construction companies in terms of value rose 5 percent from a month earlier, as both building construction (6.1 percent) and civil engineering (1.7 percent) saw increased construction activity.

Construction orders, which forecast future construction activities, increased 41.9 percent year-on- year.

The cyclical component of the coincident composite index, a measure of current economic conditions, fell 0.2 point to 99.4, while the cyclical component of the leading composite index, which predicts future economic conditions, rose by 0.1 point to 100.5, data showed.