"The won's sharp recovery (against the dollar) has cast more uncertainty over our efforts to export in the second half of this year to tide over the current economic slowdown," Jung Taehwa, Korea Aluminium Co Ltd's overseas sales team manager, told Reuters.

Jung said the weak won against the dollar earlier this year had sharpened the local industry's competitiveness in world markets and boosted exports.

South Korea's aluminium rolled-product exports are expected to rise 45 per cent to 47,500 tonnes in the second half of this year from a year ago, Jung said.But the outlook is anything but certain, Jung said.

South Korea's aluminium rolled-product exports rose 28.4 per cent to 41,100 tonnes in the first half of this year from a year ago, while its domestic sales fell 35.6 per cent to 56,000 tonnes, Jung said. Jungsaid the country's major export markets were Japan, China and the United States.

The country's exports to Japan are expected to fall considerably due to the stagnant Japanese economy and the wobbly yen, while its exports to the United States are seen gradually increasing due to good demand there, Jung said.

He said exports to China had barely changed so far this year, but any devaluation of the yuan would hit South Korean exports hard. The local aluminium industry also fears more corporate failures after South Korea's largest aluminium extrusion-maker defaulted on debt payments on Wednesday, traders said.