SEOUL, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's export grew for the fourth consecutive month due to strong global demand for locally-made semiconductors, government data showed Thursday.
Export, which accounts for about half of South Korea's export-driven economy, spiked 18.0 percent from a year earlier to 54.69 billion U.S. dollars in January, keeping an upward trend since October last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
The daily average export rose 5.7 percent to 2.28 billion dollars, while the export volume continued to increase for the fifth successive month.
Import reduced by 7.8 percent to 54.39 billion dollars last month, sending the trade surplus to 300 million dollars. The trade balance stayed in the black for eight months in a row since June last year.
Of the country's 15 major export items, 13 products saw an expansion in outbound shipment.
Semiconductor shipment soared 56.2 percent over the year to 9.37 billion dollars in January, maintaining an upward momentum for the third straight month.
It marked the fastest increase in over six years since December 2017 on the back of higher memory chip prices and solid demand for mobile and server chips.
Automotive export surged 24.8 percent to 6.21 billion dollars and kept an upward trend for the 19th straight month owing to robust demand for eco-friendly vehicles.
General machinery shipment increased 14.5 percent to 4.42 billion dollars on an expanded infrastructure investment in North and Latin Americas and the Middle East.
Export for oil products and petrochemicals reached 4.72 billion dollars and 4.0 billion dollars respectively.
Shipment for steel products added 2.0 percent to 2.77 billion dollars, and auto parts export advanced 10.8 percent to 1.91 billion dollars.
Display panel export grew 2.1 percent to 1.3 billion dollars on recovering demand for high-priced TVs, while home appliances shipment went up 14.2 percent to 670 million dollars.
Mobile phone export declined 14.2 percent to 1.34 billion dollars on lower demand for smartphones, and secondary battery shipment tumbled 26.2 percent to 590 million dollars.
Export to the United States jumped 26.9 percent over the year to 10.22 billion dollars in January, continuing to rise for the sixth consecutive month.
Shipment to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) gained 5.8 percent to 8.76 billion dollars, keeping an upward trend for the fourth straight month.
Export to the European Union grew 5.2 percent to 5.7 billion dollars, and those to Japan, Latin American nations and the Middle East climbed in double digits to 2.54 billion dollars, 2.19 billion dollars and 1.67 billion dollars each.
Regarding import items, crude oil import was up 6.0 percent, but those for natural gas and coal dipped 41.9 percent and 8.2 percent each.
Non-energy import retreated 4.7 percent to 41.2 billion dollars in January compared to the same month of last year. ■
