A visitor to a department store in Seoul browses lipstick and other cosmetic products, April 3. Yonhap By Ko Dong-hwan Korean cosmetics companies, many of which have been suffering from declining sales in China, have started to bounce back thanks to an increasing number of "K-beauty" consumers, particularly in the United States and Japan, according to industry officials, Sunday. Boosts from broader global marketplaces have added muscle to the country's cosmetic exports. Korea Customs Service said that the local industry saw record quarterly exports of $2.3 billion during the first three months this year, a 21.7 percent year-on-year increase. Major local companies here have released their quarterly reports, revealing that significant portions of profit came from the U.S. and Japan. Amorepacific's operating profit during the period registered 72.7 billion won ($53.6 million), a 12.9 percent jump from the previous year. The company said that whereas sales in China declined compared to the previous year, those in the U.S. soared by 40 percent and Europe, the Middle East and Africa by 52 percent. The launch of a new Laneige lineup, one of the company's cosmetic labels, in the U.S. has boosted its sales there, according to the company. LG H&H registered 1.73 trillion won in sales, up by 2.7 percent from the previous year, and an operating profit of 151 billion won, up 3.5 percent, during the same period. The biggest amount of overseas sales came from China and Japan. Sales in China stood at 214 billion won, up 9.9 percent from 2023, while those in Japan were recorded at 93 billion won, up 3.6 percent, also from 2023. Aekyung Industrial's quarterly performance also received a boost from Japan. The company registered sales of 169 billion won, up 7.7 percent from 2023, and an operating profit of 16.5 billion won, up 6.8 percent, during the same period. The company said that exports to Japan nearly doubled from the previous year. The company said it saw its highest Japanese sales at Megawari, a shopping discount event organized by Japanese online shopping platform Qoo10, in March. Original design manufacturer (ODM) firms here also benefitted from K-beauty's rising popularity in the U.S. and Japan. Kolmar Korea renewed its record sales and operating profit during the first quarter, registering 575 billion won, up 17.9 percent from the previous year, and 32.4 billion won, up 168.9 percent, respectively. Cosmax also recorded its highest quarterly sales with 527 billion won. "We confirmed that Korea's indie cosmetic brands that used our technologies saw sound exports in the U.S. and Japan, especially the sunscreen products," a Kolmar Korea official said. "We've never seen such a high quarterly performance before. Last year's sales (2.16 trillion won) and operating profit (136 billion won) were also the historical figures for us." Observers said that the K-beauty industry is on the rise mostly because of its products selling fast in the U.S., the second-biggest market following China, as well as signs of a recovery in the Chinese market. "Considering the downturn in China's beauty market, Korean firms saw higher-than-expected sales there, which led to surprising performance figures for them," a Korea Investment & Securities official said.
