Korea’s March 1-20 exports up 10% on year, but daily volume declines

South Korea’s exports in the first 20 days of March grew 10 percent from the same period last year, mostly thanks to poor year-ago figure and additional working days.

According to the data from the Korea Customs Service on Monday, the country’s outbound shipments totaled $30.7 billion in March 1-20, up 10 percent from a year ago. The uptick owed largely to 1.5 more working days in the period compared to last year. Average daily exports fell 0.4 percent with the number of working days factored out.

Semiconductor exports gained 20.3 percent on year during the March 1-20 period. Exports of automobiles rose 13.7 percent, petrochemical products 11.4 percent and wireless communication devices 26.6 percent. But shipments of ships and display devices fell 49.6 percent and 16.7 percent, respectively.

By country, exports to China grew 4.9 percent, the U.S. 27.2 percent, the European Union 13.5 percent, Vietnam 12.1 percent, Japan 30.5 percent, Hong Kong 33.6 percent and the Middle East 18.3 percent.

Imports in the first 20 days of March rose 5.9 percent on year to $29.1 billion, leading to a trade surplus of $1.6 billion.

Semiconductor imports increased 13.6 percent, petrochemical products 43.3 percent and precision machine 8.5 percent. On the other hand, crude oil imports shrank 2.6 percent, machinery 6.3 percent and coal 19.4 percent.

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