68% of Korean exporters expect exports to increase on-year in 2019: KITA

수출기업 68%, "올해 수출 늘어날 것"…최대 이슈는 환율The Korea International Trade Association conducted a survey on the country's exporting companies.The firms were asked about expectations of outbound shipment growth for the year.According to our Kim Hye-sung, most were quite optimistic. Two out of three Korean exporters expect their exports to increase this year.According to a survey by the Korea International Trade Association on nearly 990 companies with annual exports worth more than 500-thousand U.S. dollars,... 68-point-one percent expected exports to go up on-year in 2019. Nearly 40 percent predict exports to go up by a range of zero to five percent, twenty percent expected them to go up by 5 to 10 percent, and another 8 percent expected exports to go up by more than 10 percent. Companies said exports of daily necessities and chemical goods and electrical goods are likely to increase, while exports of cell-phones, wireless communication devices, plastics and steel are likely to fall this year. Regarding factors that could affect exports,... 41 percent of the respondents pointed to fluctuations in exchange rates and raw material prices as the biggest challenge. 19 percent pointed to rising global competition, and another 19 percent pointed to the U.S.-China trade dispute as challenges.As for new export markets, respondents chose Southeast Asian countries as the most preferred market given its strong growth potential,... followed by the European Union and Latin America.They added that getting market information through overseas networks and finding new buyers are most needed factors when expanding into new markets.Kim Hyesung, Arirang News.