Wood In Architecture Issue 1, 2018

NEWS
SOUTH KOREA RAISES GDP FORECAST TO
3%, BUT WOOD DEMAND TO REMAIN LOW AS
FEWER HOUSING STARTS EXPECTED
By Tai Jeong, Canada Wood Korea
- Domestic consumption forecast to rise 0.1 percentage point
- Fewer housing starts and building permits issued in first 11 months of 2017
- Lower lumber demand expected as cooling measures on housing to continue into 2018
Bank of Korea has raised South
Korea’s GDP growth forecast for 2018 to
three per cent on the back of domesc
consumpon recovery and robust export
growth.
With minimum wages raised by 16
per cent to 7,530 Won (US$6.60)—the
biggest jump in about two decades—
starng this year, consumer prices are
expected to rise by 1.7 per cent.
February’s Winter Olympics will
also boost private consumpon by 0.1
percentage point in the rst quarter of
this year.
The Korean Won fell to a three-year
low of 1,061.2 Won against the U.S. Dollar
on January 2. Analysts say this will further
fall below 1,000 Won if the geopolical
risk on the Korean Peninsula eases.
2017 TRADE
Exports soared to an all-time high of
US$573.9 billion in 2017, a 16 per cent
increase thanks to recovery in the global
economy.
Trade volume exceeded US$1 trillion,
as imports expanded 17.7 per cent to
US$478.1 billion.
Consumer prices grew 1.9 per cent
in 2017 from a year earlier, marking the
steepest gain in ve years since 2012, on
the back of a strong industrial goods and
nancial services sector.
Unemployment stood at 3.3 per cent
in December, up 0.1 percentage point
from a year earlier.
HOUSING CONSTRUCTION
Cooling measures on South Korea’s
housing market have seen fewer starts
and building permits, especially in the new
apartment market in Seoul.
Housing starts fell 14.6 per cent
to 90,497 while the number of units
signicantly decreased 23.2 per cent to
440,382 units in Nov last year.
Housing permits during this period
also dropped 10.2 per cent and 13.2 per
cent respecvely to 107,308 and 552,558
from a year earlier.
While the overall residential
construction sector is struggling, the
number of wood building permits issued
in the rst 11 months of 2017 increased
1.7 per cent to 15,841 buildings from
a year earlier. Wood building starts,
however, fell 6.5 per cent to 12,954
buildings during this period.
The total oor area of wood building
permits for the same period in 2017
increased 5.8 per cent to 1,451,320m 2
but that of wood building starts decreased
slightly 3.8 per cent to 1,198,515m 2 from
a year earlier.
LUMBER SHIPMENTS
B.C. sowood lumber exports to South
Korea for the rst 11 months of 2017 fell
5.7 per cent to 238,184cbm compared
to 252,651cbm during the same period
in 2016.
This is mainly due to the government’s
efforts in limiting the supply of new
homes (from August 2016), especially
apartments in Seoul to keep household
debt and rising home prices in check.
However, the export value for the
same period rose a slight 2.8 per cent to
US$54.6 million (CAD$68.678 million) for
the same period in 2016.
Lumber prices in Canada have trended
upward for almost two years and reached
13-year highs in July, 2016. On the other
hand, Nordic lumber prices have been
depressed in U.S. Dollar terms, resulng
their current price levels to be the lowest
they have been in eight years. | WIA
Wood construction in South Korea: The Forest
Genetic Resources Department at the Korea
Forest Research Institute features the largest
wood-framed building in the country.
6 ISSUE 1 • 2018 • WOOD IN ARCHITECTURE