Incheon exports rise for 5th straight month, but import surge pushes trade balance to $742M deficit

Incheon's exports extended their winning streak to five consecutive months in July, but a sharp rise in imports pushed the region's trade balance back into the red.

According to the "July 2026 Incheon Trade Statistics" released by Incheon Customs on Friday, the region's exports last month totaled $5.53 billion, up 0.3 percent from the same month a year earlier.

Imports, however, jumped 20.8 percent to $6.27 billion, leaving the trade balance at a deficit of $742 million — a reversal from the $317 million surplus recorded in the same month last year.

Exports were driven by chemicals and transport equipment, which rose 36.8 percent and 26.8 percent, respectively. Shipments to the United States and Hong Kong also climbed sharply, up 46.7 percent and 92.8 percent.

Weakness in key export categories offset those gains, however. Electrical and electronic products fell 12.3 percent and machinery and precision instruments dropped 30.7 percent, while exports to Taiwan and China declined 55.4 percent and 7.9 percent, respectively.

The import surge was led by electrical and electronic products, machinery and precision instruments, and fuel, which rose 17.6 percent, 45.7 percent and 12.3 percent, respectively. Imports from the United States jumped 134.8 percent.

Despite the monthly shortfall, cumulative exports for January through July this year reached $36.55 billion, up 4.9 percent from the same period last year, while the cumulative trade deficit narrowed sharply to $98 million.

"In July, a decline in electrical and electronic product exports combined with a sharp rise in imports outweighed gains in chemicals and transport equipment, tipping the monthly trade balance into deficit," an Incheon Customs official said.