S. Korea's industrial power sales gain 9.1 pct in April

SEOUL, May 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's industrial electricity sales gained steadily in April, fueled by a rise in demand from the machinery equipment, chemical and steel sectors, a government report showed Tuesday. Industrial electricity demand rose 9.1 percent on-year to 20.9 billion kilowatt-hours last month, compared with a gain of 11.0 percent in March, the report by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said. "Sales were helped by double-digit rises in demand from machinery and equipment manufacturers, chemical refineries and steel mills," the ministry said. "Electricity sales to the carmaking, semiconductor and shipbuilding sectors also rose." Demand from machinery and equipment manufacturers shot up 16.9 percent on-year, with sales to local chemical refineries and steel mills gaining 13.1 percent and 13.9 percent, respectively. Industrial power sales cover both manufacturing and mining businesses, and account for 55.3 percent of domestic electricity sales supplied by the state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. They are used as a barometer of industrial activity because companies use more electricity during times when business is good and cut back to cope with falls in orders. Overall sales of electricity, meanwhile, reached slightly over 37.7 billion kilowatt-hours last month, up 4.9 percent from a year earlier, marking the 25th consecutive month that sales have expanded. The number compares with an 8.1 percent expansion in March. Total power sales include electricity used by educational institutions, homes, shops, farms and for public use, such as streetlights.