A study finds that 36 percent of South Korean exporters have a competitive edge in the global market.

The Institute for International Trade under the Korea International Trade Association(KITA) conducted the study on about eleven-hundred exporters last month.

According to the study results, 36-point-seven percent of South Korean exporters have a competitive edge this year, while 45-point-six percent have equal competitiveness with their rivals and 17-point-seven percent were inferior.

The inferior exporters increased by one-point-nine percentage points from three years ago to 15-point-eight percent this year, while the firms with equal competitiveness decreased by two-point-seven percent over the period. Exporters with a competitive edge increased by 0.8 percentage points.

South Korean exporters have relatively high competitiveness in quality, but their competitiveness in prices, overseas marketing and sales were relatively lower.

As for the biggest concerns for exports, 33 percent of exporters cited a planned rate hike in the U.S., and foreign exchange fluctuations, while 27 percent named changes in crude oil and raw material prices. Fourteen percent cited China’s economic slowdown.