Seoul: South Korea’s export grew for the 11th straight month due to strong demand for locally-made tech and oil products, government data showed yesterday.
Export, which accounts for around half of the export-driven economy, rose 11.4 percent from a year earlier to $57.90bn in August, continuing to climb since October 2023, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
Import gained 6.0 percent over the year to 54.07 billion dollars in August, sending the trade surplus to 3.83 billion dollars.
The trade balance stayed in black for the 15th consecutive month since June 2023.
Of the country’s 15 major export items, seven products saw an increase in outbound shipment.
Semiconductor export soared 38.8 percent over the year to $11.88bn in August, keeping an upward trend for the 10th successive month.
The rapid expansion was attributed to chip demand relevant to artificial intelligence (AI), higher memory chip prices, and the launch of new smartphones.
Mobile device shipment jumped 50.4 percent to $1.81bn thanks to the global smartphone market recovery, while computer export almost tripled to $1.48bn on the continued demand for solid state drive (SSD).
Display panel export declined 4.9 percent to 1.82 billion dollars last month, marking the first fall in 13 months.
Automotive shipment reduced 4.3 percent to 5.07 billion dollars, with auto parts export sliding by 3.5 percent to $1.84bn.
