South Korea exports accelerated in December – “Grows on Demand From China” cited

South Korea trade data were released on Wednesday:

Exports in December +6.6% y/y

• expected +4%, previous +1.4%

When exports are adjusted for the working-day differences they increased 4.3% y/y in December

• vs. +3.7% in November

Some of the reports I am seeing cite the improvement on “demand from China increased while semiconductor sales stayed resilient”.

Exports to China +8.6%

• to the US +5.5%
• to the European Union +15.1%

More good news for China Maybe. I got a bit interested in the Chinese PMIs earlier this week re China:

• China official National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) December 2024 PMIs – why the long face?

There is another PMI due from China today:

• Economic calendar in Asia – Thursday, January 2, 2025 – China manufacturing PMI

Back to South Korea’s trade data:

Imports +3.3% y/y

• expected +4.6%, previous
  -2.4%

Trade Balance 6.49bn

• expected 4.21bn, previous
  5.586bn

This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at www.forexlive.com.