Recording 11th consecutive month of positive growth
Last month’s exports by Korea reached US$57.9 billion, continuing an 11-month upward trend. In particular, semiconductor exports achieved the highest performance ever in August, adding to the momentum. Cumulative exports to China surpassed those to the United States for the first time this year, becoming the largest export destination again.
Recently, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced that exports last month increased 11.4% year-on-year to $57.9 billion, while imports increased 6% to $54.07 billion. The positive trade balance thus reached $3.83 billion, continuing to show a surplus for 15 consecutive months.
By sector, semiconductor exports increased 38.8% year-on-year to $11.9 billion, showing a positive trend for the 4th consecutive month of over $11 billion. Computer exports increased 183% to $1.5 billion, a triple-digit increase. Wireless communication device exports also increased by 54% to $1.8 billion.
Automobile exports decreased by 4.3% to $5.1 billion, however, due to the modernization of some companies’ production lines and the decrease in operating rates due to wage and group negotiations ― but ship exports increased by 80% to $2.8 billion, turning positive for the first time in three months.
By region, eight out of nine major markets showed favorable trends. The region with the largest exports by Korea was China, which recorded $11.4 billion ― up 7.9% due to the improved business conditions in the information and communication technology (IT) industry.
Exports to China reached $86.2 billion from January to August this year, surpassing exports to the United States during the same period, emerging as the largest export country.
Exports to the USA increased by 15.5% to $84.7 billion due to favorable market trends in IT items such as semiconductors and computers.
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