Manufacturers' capacity utilization dips to 10-year low

SEOUL, Jan. 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korean manufacturers' factory operating rate
tumbled to a 10-year low in November last year in the wake of a fast slumping
economy, government officials said Sunday.

Local manufacturers operated at an average 68 percent of their capacity in
November, the lowest level since the 65.7 percent recorded in August 1998,
according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the National Statistical
Office.
The November operating rate was also down from 77 percent in October and 80.6
percent a year earlier. The figure has fallen for five consecutive months since
last July.
The average factory operating rate fell by the widest margin in November since
the government began compiling related data in 1980. In September 1980, the
capacity utilization rate fell to 61.2 percent due to the 1979 global oil crisis.
The figure hit 63.8 percent in July 1998 following a financial meltdown.
"The economy is losing ground at a very fast and more-serious-than-expected
pace," a ministry official said. "Macroeconomic indicators are likely to be worse
in the first half of this year than last year."
The export-dependent Korean economy is feeling the pinch of the global economic
slowdown touched off by the U.S.-sparked financial turmoil.
The government expects Asia's fourth-largest economy to grow 3 percent annually
this year, but pessimists warn the growth rate could drop to the 1-percent range.
(END)