SEOUL, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's export grew for the second consecutive month in July due to solid global demand for locally-made semiconductors, cars and ships, government data showed Friday.
Export, which accounts for about half of the export-driven economy, swelled 5.9 percent from a year earlier to 60.82 billion U.S. dollars in July, after going up 4.3 percent in June, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
Import added 0.7 percent to 54.21 billion dollars, sending trade surplus to 6.61 billion dollars. Trade balance stayed in black for the sixth successive month since February.
Of 15 major export items, three products saw an increase in outbound shipment.
Semiconductor export jumped 31.6 percent over the year to 14.71 billion dollars in July, marking the biggest amount for the month.
Soaring chip shipment was attributed to strong demand for high-end chips, such as double data rate 5 (DDR5) and high bandwidth memory (HBM) products used in generative artificial intelligence (AI) chipsets.
Automotive shipment gained 8.8 percent to 5.83 billion dollars last month, keeping an upward trend for the second straight month on the back of robust demand from Europe and Latin America that offset weaker demand from the United States, caused by a U.S. tariffs imposition.
Export for ships more than doubled to 2.24 billion dollars in July on a yearly basis, continuing to go up for the fifth successive month on higher demand for high-value-added ships such as LNG carriers.
Oil products export reduced 6.3 percent to 4.21 billion dollars on lower products price.
Global prices for gasoline and diesel dipped 15.4 percent and 8.5 percent each in July compared to the same month of last year.
Petrochemical shipment retreated 10.1 percent to 3.75 billion dollars owing to global supply glut and cheaper crude oil.
Dubai crude, the Asian country's benchmark, averaged 69.3 dollars per barrel in June, down 16.1 percent from a year earlier.
Global demand for display panels and mobile devices diminished to 1.57 billion dollars and 1.20 billion dollars each, while computer export tumbled 18.5 percent to 950 million dollars.
Auto parts shipment declined 7.2 percent to 1.92 billion dollars, and general machinery export dropped 17.2 percent to 4.28 billion dollars.
Steel products export shrank 2.9 percent to 2.72 billion dollars because of the negative effect of the U.S. protectionist moves, and secondary battery shipment plunged 21.1 percent to 580 million dollars.
Export for home appliances and textiles decreased to 640 million dollars and 830 million dollars respectively.
Export to the United States rose 1.4 percent over the year to 10.33 billion dollars in July, marking the first turnaround in four months on higher chip demand.
Shipment to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) soared 10.1 percent to 10.91 billion dollars, while export to the European Union (EU) climbed 8.7 percent to 6.03 billion dollars.
Export to Japan slid 4.7 percent to 2.48 billion dollars, but that to Latin America and India increased to 2.68 billion dollars and 1.79 billion dollars each. ■