South Korea’s exports surged last month, posting their biggest gain in more two than decades as shipments of auto parts, semiconductors and consumer electronics rose amid the global economic recovery.
Exports increased 47.1 percent to US$31.08 billion last month from the same month the year before, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said yesterday. That was the biggest gain since exports rose of 52.6 percent in August 1988, ministry official So Myoung-hee said.
The trade figures are preliminary and subject to revision.
Exports of auto parts soared 158 percent from a year earlier, while semiconductors jumped 121.6 percent and liquid-crystal devices gained 103.4 percent, the ministry said. Consumer electronics, petrochemicals and automobiles all racked up double-digit percentage increases.
Mobile phones and ships, however, failed to keep pace, declining 2.1 percent and 22.9 percent respectively.
The ministry said the export surge came as the global economy recovers. Also boosting last month’s figures were increased exports to China ahead of Lunar New Year celebrations there, it said.
Shipments to China rose 88.5 percent during the first 20 days of the month from the year before. Lunar New Year falls in the middle of this month.
Exports to ASEAN, meanwhile, rose 50.3 percent. Individual country and regional data for the full month were not yet available.
Separately, Hyundai Motor Co, the nation’s biggest automaker, said that exports from its South Korean factories rose 27.8 percent to 66,069 vehicles last month from a year earlier.
The company also said global sales — including domestic sales, exports from South Korea and sales of vehicles manufactured overseas — surged 50.4 percent to 269,841 vehicles.
South Korea’s export gain, however, could not prevent the country’s first monthly trade deficit in a year as higher oil prices and increased fuel demand for heating and power generation amid colder temperatures pushed up the country’s import bill.
Imports increased 26.7 percent last month to US$31.55 billion, the ministry said, resulting in a deficit of US$468 million compared with a surplus of US$3.09 billion in December.
South Korea last recorded a deficit in January last year when the trade balance was US$3.76 billion in the red.
So said imports rose due to higher oil prices and colder temperatures.
In a statement, the ministry called the trade deficit figure an “appropriate level.”
South Korea recorded a record trade surplus of US$40.45 billion last year following a deficit in 2008.
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