Korea's export orders growth slips to 8.5% in December

Thanks to the surge in orders from Europe.

According to DBS, export orders by product reported a year-on-year growth of 8.5% in Dec12, slightly lower than 11.1% in Nov12. 

Excluding the distortion of seasonal factors, however, export orders continued to increase 0.8% MoM sa in Dec12 (0.6% in volume terms), on top of the strong rise of more than 6.5% in the preceding month.

As the year-end festive season has passed, demand for electronics products has fallen from the peak. That said, demand for precision instruments and information &
communication products – the other two important segments of the high tech industry – held up quite well in Dec12.

Here's more from DBS:

If looking at the breakdown by market, orders from Europe surged strongly, although demand from the US and China receded slightly.

The recovery trend in export orders remains intact. Export orders are an important leading indicator for industrial production, export shipments and machinery investment.

Industrial production for Dec12 (due tomorrow) is expected to show a further improvement to 5.9% YoY (vs. 5.8% in Nov12). Given that export orders growth has stayed around 10% YoY for two consecutive months, an upside surprise in IP data is likely.