Most South Korean exporting industries including the petrochemical, machinery and automotive sectors are expected to be booming in the second half of this year, but the construction industry is anticipated to suffer a continuing slump in the domestic market, according to a recent report released by the Hyundai Research Institute (HRI).
The HRI has forecast that the South Korean economy will grow 4.7 percent from a year ago in the second half of this year, bringing the annual growth rate to 4.3 percent this year. The private think tank predicted that the annual economic growth rate of the nation in 2011 will be lower than the previous year's annual record of 6.2 percent, due to the reduced recovery pace of the global economy and the slowdown of the domestic economy.
Most local exporting industries including petrochemical, machinery and automotive sectors, which enjoyed a boom last year, are expected to maintain a continuing upward trend this year. The HRI said that the related industries are benefiting from the high growth of newly emerging overseas markets including China and the aftermath of the massive earthquake that hit Japan in March. The HRI predicts that the local shipping industry will enjoy a continuing recovery this year and that the shipbuilding industry, which experienced a slump last year, will enter a recovery phase in the second half of this year thanks to an increase in new order receipts. However, there is a high possibility that domestic market-oriented business sectors like logistics services will suffer some slowdown in the second half of the year due to a slow recovery of domestic consumption.