SEOUL, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's exports surged in double figures in the first 20 days of August, driven by soaring demand for locally-made semiconductors, customs office data showed Friday.
The outbound shipment spiked 56.0 percent from a year earlier to 55.21 billion U.S. dollars during the Aug. 1-20 period, according to Korea Customs Service.
The daily average exports jumped 61.5 percent to 3.94 billion dollars in the 20-day period.
Semiconductor exports skyrocketed 198.8 percent to 26.03 billion dollars, but automotive shipments sank 45.1 percent to 1.52 billion dollars.
Exports of oil products mounted 56.4 percent on expensive crude oil, caused by the lingering Middle East tensions.
Computer shipments shot up 242.1 percent to 2.28 billion dollars thanks to solid demand for solid-state drives (SSDs), driven by the expanding global artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.
Those for steel products and mobile devices posted a double-digit expansion.
Imports advanced 19.0 percent over the year to 41.23 billion dollars in the first 20 days of August, sending the trade surplus to 13.98 billion dollars.
Imports of chips, semiconductor equipment, crude oil, coal, machinery and mobile devices all recorded a double-digit increase in the cited period. ■
