SOUTH KOREA’S factory output snapped 10 straight months of year-on-year growth in September, dashing expectations for continued expansion, as global chip shortages hit production. Industrial production last month fell 1.8 percent year on year, Statistics Korea data showed Friday, missing forecasts for 1.4 percent growth and down from a 9.7 percent expansion in August. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, output fell 0.8 percent, missing a median 0.3 percent decline forecast and following a 0.7 percent drop in August. A breakdown of data showed production of cars shrank 9.8 percent from a month earlier, while that of semiconductors and electrical equipments also slumped 1.6 percent and 5.2 percent, respectively. “September industrial output was weak as global supply chain disruptions were seen weighing on production in the manufacturing industry and on fewer working days,” said Oh Chang-sob, an economist at Hyundai Motor Securities. The country’s biggest carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. reported a lower-than-expected profits last week as the global chip crisis drove down vehicle shipments and said it will take a long time to get back to normal chip supplies. Samsung Electronics Co. also said last week that it expects component shortages to affect chip demand in the current quarter, even as it reported the highest quarterly profit in three years.(SD-Agencies) | 