SEOUL, July 1 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's export fell for the ninth successive month on soft global demand for locally-made products, especially semiconductor and oil products, government data showed on Saturday.
Export, which accounts for about half of the country's export-driven economy, shrank 6.0 percent from a year earlier to 54.24 billion U.S. dollars in June, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
The outbound shipment kept skidding since October last year. The daily average export reduced 10.1 percent.
Import declined 11.7 percent to 53.11 billion dollars last month.
Affected by the faster fall in import than export, the trade balance recorded a surplus of 1.13 billion dollars.
The trade balance turned into black in 16 months since February last year, but it was a recession-style surplus amid the decrease both in export and import.
The export reduction was attributable to the still weak global demand for chips and oil products.
Semiconductor export tumbled 28.0 percent over the year to 8.9 billion dollars in June, keeping a downward trend for the 11th consecutive month since August last year.
Shipment for petrochemicals and oil products dropped in double digits to 3.56 billion dollars and 3.30 billion dollars respectively, and display panel export dipped 11.1 percent to 1.40 billion dollars.
Mobile phone shipment dwindled 12.0 percent to 1.02 billion dollars, and computer export dived 53.5 percent due to lower global investment in servers.
Automotive export jumped 58.3 percent to 6.23 billion dollars in June, continuing to expand for the 12th successive month on strong demand for eco-friendly vehicles.
Auto parts export gained 5.7 percent on solid demand from Europe and Latin America.
General machinery shipment continued to increase for the third consecutive month on higher overseas investment in facilities, and secondary battery export soared in double figures owing to robust demand from the United States and Europe.
Steel product export marked the first turnaround in 10 months thanks to the recovering demand from the Middle East and the United States that offset the lower product prices.
By region, export to the United States shed 1.8 percent over the year to 9.59 billion dollars in June amid the lower prices for chips and oil products.
Shipment to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plunged 16.6 percent to 8.58 billion dollars, while export to the European Union (EU) advanced 18.2 percent to 6.19 billion dollars.
Those to Latin American countries and the Middle East rose to 2.54 billion dollars and 1.64 billion dollars, respectively.
Meanwhile, the double-digit fall in import was caused by lower energy import costs.
Import for crude oil, natural gas and coal dipped 28.6 percent, 0.3 percent and 45.5 percent, respectively, in June compared to the same month of last year.
Dubai crude, South Korea's benchmark, was traded at 74.99 dollars per barrel in June, down from 113.27 dollars a year earlier.
Import for chips, steel products and computers all declined in double digits last month.
The country posted trade surplus in 16 months as its deficit continued to slide this year from a peak of 12.54 billion dollars in January. ■