S. Korea Posts Trade Surplus For 9 Months To January

Faizan Hashmi Published February 15, 2021 | 12:15 PM

South Korea posted trade surplus for nine straight months to January owing to an export recovery, customs office data showed on Monday

SEOUL (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Feb, 2021 ) :South Korea posted trade surplus for nine straight months to January owing to an export recovery, customs office data showed on Monday.

Trade surplus amounted to 3.8 billion U.S. Dollars in January, after logging 6.7 billion dollars in the previous month, according to Korea Customs Service. The trade balance stayed in black for nine months since May last year.

Export, which takes up about half of the South Korean economy, advanced 11.4 percent over the year to 48.0 billion dollars in January, while import grew 3.6 percent to 44.2 billion dollars.

Semiconductor export jumped 20.6 percent, and those for automobiles, ships and telecommunication devices, such as smartphone, went up in double figures last month.

Auto parts shipment grew in single digits, but oil products export tumbled 45.0 percent.

Export to China, South Korea's biggest trading partner, soared 22.3 percent, and those to the United States and the European Union (EU) also recorded a double-digit increase in the month.

Shipment to Vietnam expanded 13.6 percent, but those to Japan and the middle East declined 8.5 percent and 13.1 percent respectively.