Manufacturing sector may slow down

The nation`s manufacturing businesses are expected to experience a slowdown during the fourth quarter because of soaring prices of oil and other imported raw materials. In particular, prospering businesses will get better, while sluggish businesses will get even worse.

The forecast is based on a recent survey of the nation`s 1, 993 manufacturing firms conducted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industry(KCCI).

In the KCCI report on fourth-quarter prospects of domestic businesses, the business survey index stood at 109. It represented a continuous slide from the peak of 138 in the second quarter to 116 during the third quarter. The KCCI attributed the trend to worsening external circumstances, including a financial crunch, high oil prices and the rising exchange value of the won.

By industry, electronics (140), refining (129), shipbuilding (119) and automobiles (118) are expected to enjoy prosperous businesses, whereas textiles (65), wood products (92) and petrochemicals (97) will remain sluggish, according to the report.

The gap in the BSI between electronics and textiles is as big as 75 points, showing an extreme differences among major industries.

Koo Ja-Ryong bonhong@donga.com