INT'L OUTBOUND SHIPMENTS PLUNGED IN MARCH

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Outbound shipments of the world's Ten latrgest exporting nations all plunged during March when the COVID-19 outbreak was declared a pandemic. But it turned out South Korea was shown to have suffered the least drastic fall.

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The world's top ten exporting nations all suffered huge drops in outbound shipments in March compared to a year ago. A World Trade Organization report showed that the March figure for China, the world's biggest exporter, was at around 185 billion dollars, down 6.6% on-year. The U.S., the world's second largest exporter, recorded a 9.3% on-year drop at 134.6 billion dollars. Korea, the world's sixth largest exporter, registered more than 46 billion dollars, down 1.4% from last year, the smallest decrease among the ten exporting nations. Japan in fourth place saw its exports shrink nearly 9% to around 59 billion dollars and exports for Hong Kong in 7th place fell 4.7%. Third-place Germany and fifth-place the Netherlands each declined by 9.8% and 9.1%, respectively. France and Italy, which had a surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths, saw their exports drop 17.9% and 15.3%, respectively. In general, Asian nations suffered relatively less damage while European nations were hit the hardest. Consequently, the standings among the top 10 exporting nations changed - the Netherlands from 4th to 5th, France from 6th to 8th, and Italy from 8th to 9th. The WTO expects export figures for April will be even bleaker due to the coronavirus shutdowns in the U.S. and Europe.