Shipment in S.Korea's mining, manufacturing industry grows 17.4 pct in 2021

Shipment in South Korea's mining and manufacturing industry logged the fastest growth in 11 years last year due to brisk export, statistical office data showed Tuesday.

The combined shipment by manufacturers and mining companies with at least 10 employees totaled 1,769.1 trillion won (1.35 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2021, up 17.4 percent from the previous year, according to Statistics Korea.

It marked the highest increase in 11 years since 2010 amid recovery in export, which surged 25.7 percent over the year to hit a record high of 644.4 billion dollars in 2021.

Shipment by manufacturers spiked 17.4 percent to 1,765.8 trillion won (1.35 trillion dollars), and shipment by mining firms gained 8.0 percent to 3.3 trillion won (2.5 billion dollars).

Shipment in the electronics and telecommunication sector picked up 19.2 percent last year on higher global demand for locally-made semiconductors, display panels, mobile phones and communications equipment.

Shipment in the primary metal sector soared 33.5 percent on higher raw materials price, while those for the chemical and the oil-refining sectors zoomed up 28.0 percent and 49.0 percent each on expensive crude oil.

The combined added value, created in the mining and manufacturing industry, came in at 644.8 trillion won (492.9 billion dollars) in 2021, up 15.8 percent from the previous year.