South Korea's exports moved up 9.8 percent on-year in the first 20 days of September due to a higher number of working days, but shipments of chips and petroleum products remained sluggish, data showed Thursday.
The country's outbound shipments reached US$36 billion in the Sept. 1-20 period, compared with $32.7 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service.
Imports fell 1.5 percent on-year to $36.4 billion during the period, resulting in a trade deficit of $500 million.
The number of working days came to 15.5 over the period, up from 13 tallied a year earlier.
By sector, exports of chips, the backbone of Asia's No. 4 economy, fell 14.1 percent to $5.92 billion.
Outbound shipments of petroleum products also moved down 11.4 percent over the period to $2.95 billion.
On the other hand, exports of automobiles jumped 49.1 percent on-year to hit $3.26 billion, and those of steel products gained 25.3 percent to $2.63 billion.
By destination, exports to China, the top trading partner, fell 9 percent to $7.5 billion. Those to the United States, on the other hand, gained 30.5 percent to $6.5 billion.
Exports to the European Union and Vietnam moved up 32.7 percent and 14.3 percent, respectively.
As of Wednesday, South Korea's exports for this year had reached $445.4 billion, down 10.9 percent on-year. The accumulated trade deficit reached $24.2 billion.
South Korea's exports fell for the 11th consecutive month in August due mainly to weak demand for semiconductors and petroleum products, but the country reported a trade surplus for the third straight month.
Exports have been on a steady decline since October last year amid aggressive monetary tightening by major economies to curb high inflation and an economic slowdown. It is the first time since 2020 that exports have declined for 11 months in a row.
Source: Yonhap News Agency