Daily Times

SEOUL: Industrial output in South Korea rebounded in three months as productions in car and handset improved, causing the fastest manufacturing expansion in over seven years, a government report showed on Thursday.

Production in all industries increased 1.6 percent in November from a month earlier, according to Statistics Korea. It was the fist rebound in three months after falling 0.9 percent in September and 0.4 percent in October each.

The turnaround was led by the mining and manufacturing industries that advanced 3.4 percent, the highest since September 2009 when the South Korean economy was about to recover from the global financial crisis. Enhanced production in automobiles and mobile phones, which led the November rebound, followed the end of labor strikes among key automakers and the weakening of negative effect from the discontinuation of Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Note 7 smartphones.

Auto production surged 11.4 percent in November from the previous month, with those for communications and broadcast equipments jumping 30.6 percent. Electronic parts output shed 3.0 percent, while production among oil refiners dipped 2.4 percent. Thanks to a slight increase in exports, which account for about half of the export-driven economy, manufacturers logged an average capacity ratio of 73.5 percent in November, up 3.0 percentage points from a month earlier. Production in the services industry edged up 0.1 percent, marking the first growth after retreating 0.8 percent in September and 0.3 percent in October respectively.

Output in the restaurant and lodging sectors declined as consumers refrained from outside activity and the dine-out on lingering uncertainties in the political scene. President Park Geun-hye, who was impeached on Dec. 9 by over two-thirds of the 300-member parliament, has been waiting for the constitutional court’s final conclusion, while Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn is serving as an interim leader. If six out of the nine justices of the court decide to permanently remove Park from office, a presidential election must be held within 60 days.