<South Korean economy>Is the crisis ending?
Hi Lee:
Second best news I heard all day.
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Source:Excerpts from Bloomberg
Top News
Fri, 30 Oct 1998, 1:06pm EST
Korea's September Industrial Output Rises; Raising Hopes Crisis Is Ending
Korea's Sept. Industrial Output Rises, 1st of 1998
(Update2)
(Rewrites first two paragraphs.)
Seoul, Oct. 30 (Bloomberg) -- South Korea's industrial
production in September rose 0.3 percent from a year earlier,
the first increase this year, fueled by semiconductors and
transportation equipment such as oil tankers.
The gain raised hopes the worst of the economic crisis
will soon be over, though some analysts and company executives
said talk of a recovery may be premature.
Industrial production jumped 10.9 percent from August,
ending an eight-month decline, the National Statistical Office
said. Compared with a year earlier, semiconductor output
surged 72.0 percent, and production of transportation
equipment including oil tankers and other ships rose 30.7
percent.
''We see green lights in our chip business environment,''
said James Chung, a spokesman at Samsung Electronics, the
world's largest memory chip maker. ''We're beginning to see a
shortage in certain products and some global PC makers are
trying hard to secure stock. We're cautiously forecasting full
capacity utilization in November.''
The turnaround, after output dropped the previous eight
months by an average 8.9 percent from year-earlier levels, was
due in part to there being three more working days this
September than last year. The surge from the previous month
reflected in part resumed output after a strike in August at
the country's biggest automaker, Hyundai Motor Co., the NSO
said.
The International Monetary Fund and South Korea said
yesterday the shrinking economy will start growing next year.
The scope and timing of any recovery will depend on a pick-up
in domestic consumption and external events such as the
economic situation of Japan, Korea's second-largest trade
partner after the U.S.
The yen has strengthened 18 percent against the dollar in
the past month, helping boost Korean exports by making them
cheaper. South Korea is trying to export its way out of its
worst recession since the 1950-53 Korean war.
The main KOSPI index staged its biggest rally in more
than two weeks, rising 3.90 percent to 384.75 points.
''Too Premature''...... |
