South Korea's energy imports measured in volume edged up in 2014 from a year earlier, mainly due to more demand from the industrial sector, customs data showed Friday.
According to the data from the Korea Customs Service (KCS), South Korea brought in 298.53 million tons of crude oil, coal and natural gas in the 12-month period, up from 295.95 million tons reported for 2013.
It said, in particular, the fourth quarter saw energy imports jumping to 75.74 million tons, the highest amount tallied for the fourth quarter period in the last three years.
Crude oil imports rose 1 percent, while the numbers for coal advanced 3.5 percent on-year. Imports of natural gas, on the other hand, dropped 6.9 percent.
The KCS said that imports of crude oil and coal went up, fueled by demand from industries, while imports of gas backtracked as households cut back on its use.
The customs office said that despite the rise in volume, imports calculated in terms of value fell 3.4 percent last year.
All energy imports totaled US$143.6 billion last year, down from $148.6 billion in 2013.
This caused energy to account for 27.3 percent of South Korea's total imports last year. In 2013, this number stood at 28.8 percent.
Crude oil imports contracted 4.4 percent to $95 billion, as the average price per barrel hit $75 in the fourth quarter, down from $104 in January-March of 2014.
Coal imports plunged 7.4 percent to $12 billion as the amount of money spent to bring in natural gas inched up 0.7 percent to $36.6 billion.
Of total energy imports, coal accounted for 42.8 percent, with crude oil and natural gas making up 42.2 percent and 15 percent, each, the data showed.
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and United Arab Emirates supplied 61.1 percent of the crude oil that the country brought in last year, with Australia, Indonesia and Russia being the top three suppliers of coal, according to the data.
South Korea also bought more than half of its natural gas from Qatar, Indonesia and Malaysia. (Yonhap)
