The South Korean biohealth industry’s monthly exports surpassed $800 million in March, a 13 percent growth from a year earlier, mainly due to increased shipments to the US and China.
Trade Ministry data released Tuesday revealed that Korea exported $111.7 million worth of biohealth products to the US in March, $80 million to China, $60.3 milion to ASEAN nations and $145.9 million to European countries.
Pharmaceuticals exports marked $401 million, up 17 percent from a month earlier and marking the highest figure in 13 months.
(Flickr @Marco Verch)
Biosimilar exports to the US and Europe, as well as exports of medical devices such as ultrasonic image diagnosis machines, were seen to have boosted the growth.
A Trade Ministry official said that while chips and petrochemical exports lagged, performances of ships, rechargeable batteries and biohealth exports helped alleviate the decline.
Korea’s overall exports fell on-year for the fourth consecutive month in March.
According to the Trade Ministry’s report, total outbound shipments came to $47.1 billion, down 8.2 percent on-year, and inbound shipments came to $41.9 billion, down 6.7 percent on-year.
Analysts offered the sluggish semiconductor market, slowing Chinese economy, as well as global economic slowdown as reasons behind the continued fall in overall exports.
By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)
