According to Yonhap News,
South Korea exported a record US$14.9 billion worth of products from its free trade zones (FTZs) last year on strong global demand for automobiles, ships and semiconductors, the industry ministry said Tuesday.
The combined outbound shipments from 13 FTZs across the country jumped 22.5 percent from $12.1 billion in 2023 to reach an all-time high, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
It also marked the fourth consecutive year the figure exceeded $10 billion.
South Korea has seven industrial complex type FTZs in Masan, Gunsan, Ulsan and other areas, and six airport and seaport type zones, including those located near Incheon International Airport, the main gateway to Seoul, and seaports in the southeastern cities of Busan and Pohang.
FTZs are special economic zones where various tax and tariff benefits are provided to guarantee more freedom in manufacturing, logistics and trade.
By type, FTZs located at airports exported $12.7 billion last year, up 29.3 percent from a year earlier, on the back of increased demand for premium semiconductor products, such as high-bandwidth memory chips, sparked by the development of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.
Exports from industrial complexes surpassed the $2 billion mark for the second straight year on the back of the robust performance of the automotive and shipbuilding industries, and outbound shipments from ports stood at $87 million.
By item, semiconductors accounted for 85.2 percent of the total, followed by electronics at 6.4 percent and petrochemical products at 1.9 percent.
Nearly 65 percent of last year's outbound shipments from FTZs headed to China, 8.8 percent to Vietnam, 3.2 percent to the United States and 2.2 percent to India.
nyway@yna.co.kr
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Source: Yonhap News (February 4, 2025)