South Korea July Industrial Production Rises 0.3%

(RTTNews) - Industrial output in South Korea added a seasonally adjusted 0.3 percent on month in July, Statistics Korea said on Friday.

That missed expectations for an increase of 0.4 percent following the downwardly revised 1.5 percent gain in June (originally 1.6 percent).

On a yearly basis, production jumped 5.0 percent - topping forecasts for an increase of 3.5 percent and up from 1.6 percent in the previous month.

The Index of All industry production in July rose 0.3 percent on month and 1.9 percent on year. The Manufacturing Production Index added 0.2 percent on month and 5.1 percent on year.

The Manufacturing Shipment Index shed 1.1 percent on month but increased 4.0 percent on year. The Manufacturing Inventory Index sank 1.7 percent on month and 6.8 percent on year.

The Production Capacity Index eased 0.1 percent on month but gained 1.3 percent on year. The Index of Capacity Utilization Rate shed 0.2 percent on month but increased by 2.2 percent from the same period of the previous year.

The Manufacturing Average Capacity Utilization Rate in July marked 72.4 percent, which was down 0.1 percentage points from the previous month. The Index of Services in July increased by 0.2 percent from the previous month and 2.1 percent on year.

Retail sales jumped 2.5 percent on month, beating forecasts for 1.5 percent and up from 0.5 percent a month earlier. Sales were up 2.4 percent on year.

The Equipment Investment Index jumped 7.9 percent on month but lost 5.4 percent on year. The Domestic Machinery Shipment Index was down 3.2 percent on year. The value of Domestic Machinery Orders Received in July tumbled an annual 40.0 percent.

The value of Construction Completed at constant prices fell 1.0 percent on month and 14.2 percent on year. The value of Construction Orders Received at current prices jumped 22.4 percent from the same period of the previous year.