South Korea exports plunge 14.7%

01-Sep (Financial Times) — South Korea has suffered its heaviest fall in exports for six years, bolstering expectations that the central bank will cut rates next week to tackle a rapidly darkening outlook.

Exports fell 14.7 per cent last month from a year before, the trade ministry said on Tuesday — the biggest decline since August 2009. Domestic consumption also slumped, pulling imports down 18.3 per cent in their biggest drop since February. The trade surplus fell to $4.35bn from $7.72bn in July.

South Korea has been hit hard by the economic slowdown in China, which accounts for about a quarter of its exports, with the value of shipments to the country falling 8.8 per cent in the period. Total exports were dragged down further by a still sharper decline in exports to Europe and Japan, both of which declined by more than a fifth.

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