Data on exports of non-Chinese cosmetics continue to be good. It is frustrating that there is a month-long lag in data by country, but export data such as Southeast Asia are good, centering on US$99.62 million (YoY +53%) in 24.02 (YoY +53%). The EU also grew by YoY +51% in 24.02 (YoY +51%).

Among cosmetics exports, the proportion of exports to the United States/Southeast Asia/Japan/EU is 16%/24%/11%/6% in order. The proportion of exports to China has fallen a lot to 30%. Sales to the U.S. will be good, too.

The actual Silicon-to-export data is incredible. In 24.02, Seongnam City’s cosmetics export data grew by YoY +86%. It achieved exports of KRW 41.4 billion in terms of won, and it seems to grow by at least 40% from the second half of last year. Based on 3Q23, the share of sales by country of Silicon-to-investment is 28% in the U.S. and 13% in the Netherlands. It is the core of the performance of Korean beauty (about 27%) and COSRX (about 14%). It is not at all strange that silicon-to-investment stocks are strong recently.

From the perspective of cosmetics companies, if competition is fierce anyway, it is natural to go to a large market. Korean indie brands seem to have discovered opportunities in new markets such as the U.S., not China. Among the ideas derived from K-POP, K-Beauty is the most liked by investors. There are many stocks, but I can see various business portfolios and stocks with good IR communication.