Korean machine tool industry recovers quickly from financial crisis

Korean machine tools have become the world's elite, not only relying on the concept of 'the price of silver, the quality of gold'. South Korea has grown from a 'fast follower to a leader,' says JongHyeonSohn, chairman of the Korea Machine Tool Manufacturers Association (Komma). According to the statistics of the Korea Machine Tool Manufacturers Association, in July, South Korean machine tool orders were 295.09 billion won, down 10.79% from the previous month, and the output value was 260.29 billion won, down 4.95% from the previous month. From January to July 2013, the order value of Korean machine tools was 1,814.70 billion won, and the output value was 2,341.9 billion won, both declining for two consecutive months. In terms of trade, in July, the export of machine tools was 170 million US dollars, down 26.65% from the previous month, and the import was 120 million US dollars, an increase of 3.63%. From January to July, the export was 1.33 billion US dollars and the import was 860 million US dollars. The export reversed the 3-month growth trend, while the import reversed the downward trend. According to the analysis of American Gardner Publications, South Korea became the fourth place in the ranking of world machine tool manufacturers in 2012, and has already left Italy behind - Italy ranked fifth by a small gap. In 2012, 6.7 percent of world machine tool production was in South Korea, Gardner said. According to a report provided by the German Federal Trade and Invest (GTAI), South Korea ranks fifth in terms of machine tool sales and imports. In terms of exports, the Asian country ranks seventh in the world. According to reports, the value of machine tools produced by member companies of the Korea Machine Tool Manufacturers Association (Komma) is close to 3.5 trillion won, an increase of 1% compared to 2011. In the export market, its production grew by 7%; this sector has been unable to maintain the growth rate of the previous two years. According to the data, nearly 89% of the country's machine tool production in 2012 was cutting machine tools. Next is the production of machining centers, with an output value of 394 billion won. The number of orders received last year was not satisfactory, shrinking by 19% to 3.5 trillion won (about 2.4 billion euros). The decline was mainly due to excessive weakness in the domestic market, which fell 27.8% to 1.7 trillion won. On the other hand, overseas orders fell relatively modestly, down 8.1 percent to 1.8 trillion won. This year, the Manufacturers Association has forecast production growth of 5.1 percent. Growth drivers are expected to come from the automotive industry, machinery manufacturing, and computers and mobile phones. On the export side, Komma manufacturers expect increased demand from countries such as China, the United States, India, Turkey, Brazil and Indonesia.