Korea's March industrial production unexpectedly dips 2.6%

Early exports data also slipped 3.1%.

According to DBS, the data reported an unexpected drop in March industrial production (-2.6% MoM sa). This deviates from the rise implied in March PMI and suggests the possibility of a downward revision to the preliminary estimate of 1Q GDP.

April’s trade and PMI data, which foretells the 2Q outlook, may not be encouraging either. Exports in the first 20 days of April reported a decline of -3.1% YoY.

Here's more from DBS:

Unless shipments accelerated strongly in late-April, otherwise the full month export growth may only show a small on-year rise of about 1.0%.

Meanwhile, given the synchronized slowdown in April flash PMI in China, US and Europe, Korea’s PMI may also retreat from a strong 52.0 in March.

Overall, there are such concerns that the economic softness in 1Q is spilling over into 2Q, and a notable recovery would be delayed to 2H after the global economy improves and domestic fiscal stimulus starts to work.

Reaching the people who run Asia's businesses is harder than it used to be.

Inboxes are crowded. Attention is short. The executives you most want to reach — the founders, CFOs, and operators who actually move budgets — are the hardest to find through the usual channels. If you're building a company, a category, or a reputation, you already know this.

We've spent twenty years building the room they read. Singapore Business Review is where senior decision makers in Singapore and across Southeast Asia come for business coverage they can't get elsewhere — in print, online, and in person at the summits and roundtables we host across seven markets.

If you have something these readers should know about — a point of view worth publishing, a product worth their attention, an event worth their time — we'd like to hear what you're trying to do.

Book a meeting

| Or download the media kit (PDF)

240,000 senior readers quarterly in print Top 1,700 Singapore companies reached

7 markets across Southeast Asia