Extenda organizes a webinar on opportunities for Natural Stone in South Korea

A sector on the rise

South Korea is one of the world's leading importers of finished natural stones.

Extenda -Andalusia Export and Foreign Investment– has organized a webinar for Andalusian companies on a growing sector such as construction in South Korea and more specifically the natural stone sector.

South Korea is one of the world's leading importers of finished natural stones. In 2019, the country was the second largest importer of finished granite products by import value, from floors and walls to kitchen and bathroom countertops, hospitals and wedding venues, marble and/or granite products find their place.

The construction sector in South Korea presents a positive evolution in recent years, especially the decoration and construction materials sector, shows a notable evolution. It should be noted that a large part of the imports come from European countries.

Spain is among the countries that export the most said product to Korea, but it is still very far from countries like Italy that exports seven times more or even Greece which is close to doubling the Spanish exports.

GDP has been rising from 2012 to 2018. That trend was broken due to government measures to curb rising housing prices. Construction orders in 2020 increase in all sectors except private civil engineering, and orders in the residential building sector amounted to 62,4 trillion won, an increase of 60,3% year-on-year.

The residential construction sector is showing a recovery trend and overall market conditions are expected to improve as public and civil engineering projects continue to increase public funding rather than private investment.

By 2023, the remodeling market is expected to grow at an annual average of 10% or more, and the market size is assumed to be 7,9 trillion won next year.