Exports gain 3.3% from Dec. 1-10 on solid demand for cars, ships

South Korea's exports rose 3.3 percent on-year in the first 10 days of December despite the fall in sales of semiconductors, data showed Monday.

Outbound shipments reached $15.79 billion in the Dec. 1-10 period, compared with $15.29 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service.

Per-day exports jumped 18 percent on-year to $2.26 billion.

The number of working days during the cited period came to seven days, compared with eight days from a year earlier.

Imports sank 15.3 percent on-year to $17.2 billion during the period, resulting in a trade deficit of $1.4 billion.

The country logged a trade deficit of $15.87 billion this year through Dec. 10, the data showed.

In November, exports advanced 7.8 percent on-year to $55.8 billion, the second consecutive monthly gain, driven by upbeat chip sales in the global market.

This month's exports growth was led by rising global sales of vehicles and ships.

Auto exports climbed 13.2 percent on-year to $1.58 billion, and the shipbuilding industry saw sales spike 141.3 percent to $1.19 billion.

But exports of semiconductors, a key export item, shed 4 percent to $2.53 billion during the cited period.

Chip sales accounted for 16 percent of the country's total exports, down from 17.2 percent a year earlier.

On a monthly basis, semiconductor exports grew in November for the first time since August 2022 as the industry has taken a recovery track.

Exports of petro products lost 4.5 percent to $1.35 billion, and those of car parts tumbled 15.4 percent to $464 million, the data showed.

By destination, exports to China fell 6.7 percent to $3.16 billion. China is the biggest trading partner of South Korea.

Exports to the United States, however, jumped 23.7 percent on-year to $3.12 billion during the cited period.

Shipments to Vietnam inched down 0.9 percent to $1.46 billion, and those to the European Union dropped 29.4 percent to $1.41 billion.

The government has expected exports to bottom out and gradually recover and vowed all-out efforts to support exports, the country's key economic growth engine. (Yonhap)