Key industries brace for business recovery this year: poll

SEOUL, June 21 (Yonhap) -- Business conditions in the nation's key industrial
sectors are expected to improve in the second half, brightening the outlook for
the South Korean economy to bottom out by the end of this year, a survey showed
Sunday.

Fourteen of 19 major industrial sectors polled by the Federation of Korean
Industries (FKI) forecast that their business performance is projected to bottom
out by the end of this year, citing a slowdown in export and production
reductions.
Semiconductor, retail, nonferrous metals and tire industries said their business
has just entered a phase of recovery, while seven industries, including
electronics, steel and chemicals, forecast a business upturn during the third
quarter, the FKI said.
Construction, cement and petroleum sectors expected their businesses to bottom
out in the fourth quarter, said the federation.
By contrast, car, shipbuilding, paper and textile industries predicted a business
recovery would occur in the first quarter of next year, with the petrochemicals
sector citing 2011 as the starting point of their business recovery.
The FKI, the country's top business lobby, said rising factory utilization rates
and falling inventories are signaling that the economy is set to get on a
recovery track.
But it remained cautious about forecasting an early economic upturn saying that
some positive economic data are in part attributable to increased fiscal
spending.
sam@yna.co.kr
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