S. Korea's exports fall 1.7% in first 10 days of July

SEJONG -- South Korea's exports fell 1.7 percent on-year in the first 10 days of July, but a slower pace of contraction signaled a recovery in shipments as more nations lifted coronavirus lockdown measures, customs data showed Monday.

The nation's outbound shipments stood at $13.3 billion in the July 1-10 period, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service.

The daily average exports during the 10-day period also declined 1.7 percent.

In the first 10 days of June, exports jumped 20.2 percent on-year, but the daily average exports for last month's 10-day period slipped 9.8 percent.

The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted trade and halted production around the globe, with a rising number of countries fully shutting their borders.

By segment, exports of memory chips, a key item, rose 7.7 percent and those of automobiles gained 7.3 percent over the 10-day period from a year earlier.

By country, shipments to China rose 9.4 percent on-year and shipments to the United States increased 7.3 percent.

South Korea's imports in the 10-day period slipped 9.1 percent on-year to $14.1 billion, according to the data.

Exports dropped for the fourth consecutive month in June due to the growing economic fallout from the pandemic.

Outbound shipments dipped 10.9 percent to $39.2 billion last month, compared with $44 billion posted a year earlier.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has predicted that South Korea's economy will shrink 1.2 percent this year as the global economy is expected to have its worst year since the Great Depression of the 1930s due to the pandemic.

The world economy is expected to contract 6 percent this year, the OECD said. (Yonhap)