Taiwan's trade deficit with S. Korea soared 50% in Jan.-Nov. 2004
Jan 06, 2005 Ι Industry In-Focus Ι Furniture Ι By Judy, CENS
The statistics showed that in November of 2004 alone, Taiwan suffered a deficit of US$670 million in trade with S. Korea, up 50.9% from the same month of 2003. BOFT estimated Taiwan's trade deficit with S. Korea might break the US$6 billion mark for 2004, next only to that with Japan.
Huang Chih-peng, director general of BOFT, indicated that Taiwan started to suffer trade deficit with S. Korea in 1989, and ever since the deficit has been growing. As a result, S. Korea became Taiwan's second-largest trade-deficit source in 1998. To help narrow the trade gap with S. Korea, Huang is trying to urge S. Korea's companies in Taiwan to expand their purchases here and encourage the associations of Taiwan's industries, particularly textile, machinery, and electronics, to organize trade promotion groups to tap the market in S. Korea.
In the Jan.-Nov. period of 2004, Taiwan's exports to S. Korea increased by 18% from the corresponding period of 2003 and imports posted a sharp rise of 33.4%. Of the imported products from S. Korea, 93% were industrial products, including flat-rolled stainless steel products, specific machines & machinery, and float glass & polished glass, with each of them recording a whopping annual growth of more than 100%.
BOFT analyzed that among Taiwan's imports from S. Korea, electronic products, information technology (IT) products and petrochemical products were major items, which largely led to Taiwan's trade deficit with S. Korea. Integrated circuit (IC) products & related micro parts saw the largest trade deficit of US$2.68 billion, followed by such petrochemical products as p-xylene and hydrocarbons. Besides, liquid crystal display (LCD) devices and mobile phones were also leading contributors to Taiwan's trade deficit with S. Korea.
Taiwan top-10 export items to S. Korea in 2004 | |||
Items | Export value (US$M) | Rank | Growth (%) |
IC & related micro parts | 1,880.4 | 1 | 36.8 |
Printed circuit boards (PCB) | 233.2 | 2 | 75.7 |
Computer parts | 197.9 | 3 | -0.7 |
Audio & video signal devices | 191.5 | 4 | 25.9 |
Petroleum & related refined oil products | 184.8 | 5 | -58.6 |
Blank medium for audio or video recording | 181.6 | 6 | 80.8 |
Diode, transistors & pseudo semiconductor devices | 147.7 | 7 | 74.1 |
LCD devices | 147.5 | 8 | -23.0 |
Flat-rolled stainless steel products | 88.8 | 9 | 20.2 |
Synthetic fiber filament | 82.8 | 10 | 37.0 |
Taiwan top 10 import items from S. Korea in 2004 | |||
Items | Import value (US$M) | Rank | Growth (%) |
IC & related micro parts | 4,559.5 | 1 | 57.6 |
Naphthene | 689.9 | 2 | 30.4 |
LCD devices | 531.0 | 3 | -21.8 |
Mobile phones & wireless devices | 446.5 | 4 | -1.0 |
Computer parts | 247.4 | 5 | 5.6 |
Hydrocarbons | 189.3 | 6 | 41.3 |
Data processors & related accessories | 162.0 | 7 | -49.1 |
Specific machines & machinery | 139.5 | 8 | 141.5 |
Diode, transistors & pseudo semiconductor devices | 115.7 | 9 | 41.4 |
Flat-rolled stainless steel products | 113.4 | 10 | 296.2 |
Source: The Inspectorate General of Customs