South Korea Industrial Production Falls 4.8% In August

(RTTNews) - Industrial output in South Korea slipped a seasonally adjusted 4.8 percent on month in August, Statistics Korea said on Wednesday.

That missed expectations for an increase of 0.5 percent following the upwardly revised 0.5 percent gain in July (originally 0.2 percent).

On a yearly basis, production sank 2.2 percent - again missing forecasts for an increase of 4.0 percent following the upwardly revised 4.0 percent gain in the previous month (originally 3.6 percent).

The Index of All Industry Production fell 1.3 percent on month but gained 1.9 percent on year.

The Manufacturing Production index shed 5.1 percent on month and 2.4 percent on year, while the Manufacturing Shipment Index dropped 3.6 percent on month and 3.0 percent on year. The Manufacturing Inventory Index rose 0.6 percent on month and 6.1 percent on year.

The Production Capacity Index eased 0.1 percent on month but added 0.7 percent on year. The Index of Capacity Utilization Rate lost 5.3 percent on month and 5.3 percent on year. The Manufacturing Average Capacity Utilization Rate in August marked 70.8 percent, which decreased by 4.0 percentage points from the previous month.

Retail sales slumped 1.8 percent on month after sinking a downwardly revised 2.6 percent a month earlier (originally -2.4 percent). The Index of Services gained 0.5 percent on month and 4.6 percent on year.

The Equipment Investment Index sank 9.5 percent on month but jumped 16.1 percent on year. The Domestic Machinery Shipment Index increased 12.8 percent on year. The value of Domestic Machinery Orders Received surged an annual 42.2 percent.

The value of Construction Completed at constant prices added 1.9 percent on month and 1.3 percent on year. The value of Construction Orders Received at current prices dropped 10.6 percent on year.

The Composite Coincident Index rose 0.6 percent on month. The Cyclical Component of Composite Coincident Index, which reflects current economic situations, increased 0.5 points from the previous month. The Composite Leading Index in August rose 0.3 percent on month. The Cyclical Component of Composite Leading Index, which predicts the turning point in business cycle, eased 0.1 points from the previous month.