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Who buys South Korea’s refined copper? Export destinations 2024

In 2024, South Korea exported $1.8 billion of refined copper (199 thousand tonnes), 1.9% of the world total. China bought 69% of the total, followed by Taiwan (13%) and Vietnam (10%). South Korea was the world’s 14th-largest exporter of refined copper.

Summary

Value
$1.8billion
Tonnes
199thousand tonnes
Share of world total
1.9%
World rank
14th
Routes to the main destinations. Width: value; color: estimated transport mode.SeaAirLand

Destinations

The 20 main destinations in the latest year.

PartnerValue (USD billions)TonnesUSD per tonneShareMode
China1.2Tonnes: 138,995USD per tonne: $8,94969%Sea
Taiwan0.23Tonnes: 23,662USD per tonne: $9,52112.5%Sea
Vietnam0.17Tonnes: 18,937USD per tonne: $9,2269.7%Sea
Thailand0.08Tonnes: 8,266USD per tonne: $9,6714.4%Sea
Malaysia0.05Tonnes: 6,062USD per tonne: $8,3342.8%Sea
Indonesia0.02Tonnes: 2,320USD per tonne: $7,6920.99%Sea
Japan0.01Tonnes: 718USD per tonne: $8,7780.35%Sea
Portugal< 0.01Tonnes: 208USD per tonne: $6,2630.07%Sea
Pakistan< 0.01Tonnes: 101USD per tonne: $9,9810.06%Sea
Philippines< 0.01Tonnes: 65USD per tonne: $8,8930.03%Sea
United States< 0.01Tonnes: 16USD per tonne: $16,4620.02%Air
Hong Kong re-exports< 0.01Tonnes: 25USD per tonne: $9,3590.01%Sea
Norway< 0.01Tonnes: 21USD per tonne: $9,1250.01%Sea
Australia< 0.01Tonnes: 12USD per tonne: $14,0780.01%Sea
Greece< 0.01Tonnes: 20USD per tonne: $8,2490.01%Sea
South Africa< 0.01Tonnes: 7USD per tonne: $14,1010.01%Sea
Mexico< 0.01Tonnes: 2USD per tonne: $38,1210%Sea
Myanmar< 0.01Tonnes: 5USD per tonne: $8,5000%Sea
India< 0.01Tonnes: 2USD per tonne: $11,4270%Sea
Netherlands re-exports< 0.01Tonnes: 1USD per tonne: $9,0870%Sea

Trend

Who it sells to

China has been its main destination since 1998

Value in USD billions. The five largest destinations in 2024.

  • China 1.2
  • Taiwan 0.23
  • Vietnam 0.17
  • Thailand 0.08
  • Malaysia 0.05

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
Partner19952024
China0.011.2
Taiwan< 0.010.23
Vietnam00.17
Thailand< 0.010.08
Malaysia< 0.010.05

Sources and methodology

Other products of this country

Sources and licenses

Methodology

Goods trade from CEPII BACI (BACI_HS92_V202601), which reconciles what exporters and importers report: countries that stopped reporting (Russia since 2022) appear with their partners’ data. FOB values in current US dollars; tonnes when BACI reports them. The price per tonne is the value of the rows with a weight divided by that weight. The transport mode is our own estimate based on value per kilo and geography. Data up to 2024.

Hong Kong, Singapore, the Netherlands and Belgium re-export goods from other countries: their figures include transit.

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