South Korea's industrial output fell in April for a second straight month and at a faster-than-expected pace, highlighting how weak exports continue to hobble Asia's fourth largest economy.
Industrial output slipped by a seasonally adjusted 1.3 percent in April in sequential terms, following a revised 1.3 percent fall in March, Statistics Korea data showed, slightly improved from a provisional 2.2 percent decline.
The fall was driven by weak exports, a finance ministry official told Reuters after the data release, adding that domestic consumption-related sectors looked "satisfactory."
Semiconductors bolstered output last month, but automobile and transport equipment manufacturing, which includes shipbuilding, proved to be a drag on activity.
Exports have fallen since January last year although some analysts see a turnaround soon. Reflecting poor external demand, the average factory operation rate eased to 71.0 percent in April, which was the worst since the rate stood at 69.9 percent in March 2009.
"This weakness is temporary for sure as we see exports rising in May on increased global trade volume, and more transactions," said Jeong Won-il, an economist at Yuanta Securities Korea.
"Consumption also likely improved this month as we had an extra public holiday."
This sanguine view, however, isn't universal, with a raft of recent data showing the economy struggling to fire after growth halved in the first quarter from the previous three-month period.
Preliminary May exports data will be released on Wednesday.
The median forecast in a Reuters survey was for April industrial output to have edged down 0.2 percent in monthly terms.
Sub-indices linked to domestic consumption like services mostly expanded, with the data showing service-sector output up a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent in April on-month, after a revised 0.5 percent rise in March for the third straight month of gains.
On an annual basis, industrial output dropped 2.8 percent after a revised 0.6 percent decline in March, an improvement from the preliminary data that showed a 1.5 percent drop.