Last year, Korea achieved a surplus of more than $300 million through diagnostic reagents with Vietnam.
With Italy, the largest customer of diagnostic reagents exports in 2020, Korea posted a surplus of more than $200 million for two consecutive years, but the deficit with the U.S. exceeded $200 million.
Korea’s exports of diagnostic reagents (HS3822) last year amounted to $2.0466 billion, down slightly from 2020, but surpassed $2 billion for the second consecutive year, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service.
During the same period, imports surged 17.4% to $886.05 million, and the surplus was $1.166 billion, down 18.0% from 2020.
By country, exports to Vietnam, which were only $13.34 million in 2020, surged to $311.6 million, becoming Korea’s largest export customer of diagnostic reagents last year.
Italy exceeded $200 million for the second straight year at $217.46 million, and the U.S. also surpassed $100 million for the second consecutive year, but it nearly halved from $198.4 million in 2020 to $105.57 million.
Exports to Germany, the United Arab Emirates, and Brazil exceeded $90 million, followed by Canada with $70 million and India and Spain with more than $60 million.
On the other hand, the U.S. imported $35.71 million of diagnostic reagents, an increase of more than $40 million from 2020.
Imports from Germany also rose by more than $30 million from $108.16 million to $140.92 million, and imports from Japan and China also grew from 2020, exceeding $50 million in all four countries.
Meanwhile, exports of diagnostic reagents with Vietnam, Italy, and the United Arab Emirates remained almost in the black.
Korea recorded a surplus of $311.3 million with Vietnam, and also noted a surplus of more than $200 million for the second consecutive year with Italy at $215.13 million.
Korea then posted a surplus of more than $50 million in eight countries, including $95.38 million in the United Arab Emirates, $89.99 million in Brazil, $77.79 million in Indonesia, $64.37 million in India, $62.23 million in Canada, and $52.09 million in Spain.
Nevertheless, the deficit with the U.S. more than doubled from $113.18 million in 2020 to $246.15 million last year.
Moreover, the trade surplus of $1.23 million with Germany turned a deficit of $42.55 million, and the deficit with Japan also surpassed $50 million.
