Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), South Korea’s dominant aircraft manufacturer, has won a 380 billion won ($336 million) contract with Airbus of the United Kingdom to additionally supply A320 wing top panels (WTP) between 2026 and 2030, the company announced on recently. Its first order for this year is an extension of the previous contract that will end in 2025.

WTP is an essential part of an aircraft, with a size of 16 meters (m) in length and 3.5 m in width, and composed of the blade surface and main frame.

The A320 is the best-selling model with about 13,000 aircrafts ordered from customers around the world and about 7,400 of them in service. Amid the growing demand for the A320, KAI has increased WTP production for the A320 since it first signed the contract with Airbus in 2011 and WTP now accounts for 40 percent of its total sales to the A320.

KAI also plans to ramp up its efforts to further expand orders to meet the growing demand for the A320 and diversify its income sources by exploring new markets. It will seek Risk Sharing Partner (RSP) projects to attract new customers and expand its presence in Southeast Asia to promote Korea’s home-grown helicopter Surion, KAI said.

As of 2016, KAI reported 18 trillion won in order backlog after making aggressive forays into overseas market. It expects its order backlog to exceed 20 trillion won this year.

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South Korea’s exports rose 11.2 percent to $40.3 billion in January from a year ago – the first double-digit growth in four years – thanks to a spike in mainstay memory chips and petrochemical products. Exports kept increasing momentum for the third consecutive month, the longest streak since April 2014.

Imports expanded 18.6 percent on year to $37.1 billion in January. The trade account recorded a surplus of $3.2 billion, maintaining black figures for the 60th straight month.

Exports of semiconductors reached a record high of $6.4 billion in January due to growing demand for high-capacity memory chips for mobile phones and PCs, an area in which Korea’s two chipmakers account for a half of global supplies. Petrochemical exports hit $3.5 billion, the biggest figure since December 2014 due to reduced costs and increased output capacity. Panel shipments grew 20.8 percent, the fastest pace since January 2013 owing to improved prices of liquid crystal displays and increasing application of organic lightemitting diode (OLED) for smaller panels.

By region, South Korea’s exports to China climbed 13.5 percent on year in January, marking the first double-digit growth in three years and five months. Exports also continued to grow to Vietnam, ASEAN, Japan, Europe, CIS and India. Exports to the Middle East turned positive.

In contrast, exports of shipbuilding, consumer electronics, wireless devices, automobiles and textiles remained sluggish.

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Korea’s export competitiveness is losing steam amid a global trade slowdown over the past two years,according to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

With the rise of protectionism, the United States possibly targeting Korea as a currency manipulator and China’s growing retaliation against Korea over the U.S. anti-missile defense battery, Korea’s exports are expected to face a further uphill struggle this year.

Korea dropped two notches to 8th place in export volume last year, with outbound shipments falling almost 6 percent to $495.5 billion. Korea fell behind Hong Kong and France.

This was the second annual decrease in a row, following an 8 percent dip in 2015, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The last time Korea experienced a second consecutive drop in exports was in 1957-1958 when they fell 9.7 percent and 25.9 percent, respectively.

Global trade among 71 economies also fell for two consecutive years. In 2016, global trade volume was $29.7 trillion, down 2.7 percent, following an 11.8 percent drop in 2015, the WTO noted. The lowest recorded trade figure worldwide was in 2010 when it was $28.2 trillion. The world economy fell for three years in a row from 1981-1983 following the second oil crisis in the late 1970s. The global slowdown has weighed on Korea’s export ranking, which fell from 6th among 71 countries in 2015. In 2009, Korea ranked 8th.

Although there are signs of the global economy recovering led by the United States, Korean exports are likely to face a slowdown in the latter half of this year amid inflation and protectionism.

Korean goods are increasingly exposed to risks associated with China’s diplomatic row with Korea over the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, as well as the possibility of the United States designating the country as a currency manipulator this April, in line with the U.S. policy for a weaker dollar to support its exports.

“There is a chance that Korean exports will slow down in the latter half of this year more than the first half due to the trend of protectionism and uncertainties over the value of the won against the U.S. dollar,” said LG Economic Research Institute researcher Kang Jung-gu.

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