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South Korea's exports increased 5.8 percent on-year in the first 20 days of this month, driven primarily by strong global demand for semiconductors and ships, data showed Thursday.

Outbound shipments reached $35.6 billion in the Nov. 1-20 period, compared with $33.8 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service.

Imports shed 1 percent on-year to $34.8 billion during the period, resulting in a trade surplus of $800 million, the data showed.

In October, exports rose 4.6 percent on-year to $57.5 billion, the 13th straight monthly gain, government data showed.

Exports of semiconductors surged 42.5 percent on-year to $7.71 billion in the first 20 days of the month.

Semiconductor exports accounted for 21.6 percent of the country's total exports during the cited period, up 5.6 percentage points from a year earlier amid an industry cycle upturn.

Ship sales spiked 77.1 percent from a year earlier to $1.13 billion, and outbound shipments of steel products increased 11.1 percent on-year to $2.48 billion.

However, auto exports sank 17.7 percent on-year to $3.01 billion, and those of automotive parts inched down 0.3 percent to $1.14 billion. Exports of petroleum products also shed 10.4 percent on-year to $2.66 billion.

"Exports up to Nov. 20 have increased compared to the same period last year, bolstered by a strong performance across key sectors like semiconductors, ships and steel," said Cho Ik-no, an industry ministry official, adding that the country is expected to maintain its 14-month streak of export growth and 18-month trade surplus in November.

By nation, shipments to China went up 3.5 percent on-year to $7.47 billion, while exports to the United States went down 2.5 percent to $6.42 billion.

Exports to Vietnam surged 16.3 percent on-year to $3.61 billion, and those to the European Union increased 7.5 percent to $3.41 billion.

Shipments to Japan inched down 0.6 percent to $1.59 billion, while exports to Taiwan skyrocketed 96.9 percent to $1.98 billion. (Yonhap)