SEOUL, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) — South Korea’s domestic supply in the manufacturing sector posted the first decline in four quarters due to a double-digit fall of export in the second quarter, statistical office data showed Friday.
The domestic manufacturing supply, including production at home and imported manufacturing products, shrank 4.6 percent in the April-June quarter from a year earlier, after rising for the past three quarters, according to Statistics Korea.
It came as the country’s export retreated in double figures during the second quarter owing to an economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The import of intermediary products, used for manufacturing production, diminished on the back of lower export.
The domestic supply of intermediate goods, such as industrial materials and components, reduced 10.4 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier due to weak demand for auto parts and DRAM memory chips.
Capital goods supply, including machinery equipment, expanded 10.9 percent in the quarter on strong demand for containerships and semiconductor equipment.
Consumer goods supply added 1.2 percent in the quarter on demand for luxury sedans and recreational vehicles.
Import of manufacturing products slipped 1.2 percent in the second quarter, while production at home went down 5.7 percent.
The portion of import to the total domestic manufacturing supply stood at 27.7 percent in the June quarter, up 1.2 percentage points from a year earlier.