Manufacturers' Q2 domestic supply dips on coronavirus

SEJONG, Aug. 7 (Yonhap) -- South Korean manufacturers' domestic supply dropped nearly 5 percent in the second quarter of the year due to the coronavirus pandemic, government data showed Friday.

The manufacturing domestic supply index declined 4.6 percent on-year to 101.3 during the April-June period, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.

The second-quarter reading marks the sharpest on-year decrease since the 5.6 percent drop recorded in the third quarter of 2018.

The index, which measures both locally produced goods and imports, serves as a major indicator of a country's domestic demand.

The statistical agency said the second-quarter drop came as supply of intermediate goods declined due largely to sluggish exports.

Domestic supply of domestically made goods sank 5.7 percent from a year earlier in the second quarter, with that of imports falling 1.2 percent.

In 2016, the statistical office came up with the index to measure the total domestic supply of locally produced goods and imported products, with the base number for 2010 set at 100.

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