S. Korean exports up 55.6% during first 10 days of March
South Korea's exports jumped 55.6 percent year on year in the first 10 days of March, driven by strong overseas demand for semiconductors, data showed Wednesday, Yonhap reports.
Outbound shipments reached US$21.5 billion in the March 1-10 period, compared with $13.8 billion recorded a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service.
It represented the country's largest exports recorded for the cited period.
Imports climbed 21.7% on-year to $19.4 billion during the period, resulting in a trade surplus of $2.1 billion, the data showed.
By item, exports of semiconductors rocketed 175.9% on-year to a record high of $7.6 billion amid the global artificial intelligence (AI) boom.
The figure marked the highest amount ever recorded for the first 10 days of a month, far exceeding the previous record of $6.7 billion set last month.
Chip exports comprised 35.3% of the country's total exports over the cited period, up 15.4 percentage points from the same period last year.
Exports of petroleum products jumped 44.1% to $1.4 billion.
But automobile exports declined 13.9% on-year to $1.4 billion, while shipments of vessels dipped 61.9 percent to $465 million.
By destination, exports to China, South Korea's top trading partner, ascended 91.2% on-year to $5.1 billion.
Shipments to the United States leapt 69.9% to $4.2 billion despite the tariff scheme by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, the data showed.
As reported earlier, South Korea saw 8.4% surge in foreign nationals.
