South Korea posted a trade surplus for the 37th month in a row in February, mainly due to the sharp drop in imports that outpaced the decline in exports, customs data showed Sunday.
According to the Korea Customs Service, the country’s trade surplus topped $7.7 billion last month, up from $5.36 billion tallied for the previous month and $850 million a year earlier.
Exports backtracked 3.3 percent on-year to $41.5 billion, while imports nosedived 19.7 percent to $33.79 billion. Export, import and surplus numbers are roughly on par with provisional figures released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on March 1.
South Korea’s latest trade surplus streak has been maintained without interruption since February 2012.
Exports of ships shot up 121 percent, with shipments of semiconductors rising 6.5 percent. Numbers for wired telecommunication terminal equipment advanced 32.7 percent on-year.
Overseas sales of automobiles, on the other hand, dropped 17.8 percent with refined petroleum products, automobile parts, liquid crystal displays and wireless communication equipment all losing ground compared with 2014.
By country, exports to the United States and Latin America rose 7.4 percent and 3.2 percent, respectively. Shipments to Australia surged 166.4 percent on-year.
On the down side, exports to China, South Korea’s largest trading partner, dropped 7.6 percent, with those to the European Union falling 30.7 percent.
KCS figures for the Middle East and Japan were also down 6.7 percent and 23.4 percent, respectively.
On imports, demand for computer chips rose 8.9 percent, with numbers for information technology products moving up.
Imports from China jumped 20.5 percent, but fewer products were brought in from the Middle East, the EU, the U.S. and Latin America.
In the two months of 2015, the country’s cumulative exports reached $86.7 billion, down 2.1 percent vis-a-vis the year before, while imports came to $73.6 billion, representing a drop of 15.2 percent. The country’s trade surplus stood at $13.1 billion. (Yonhap)
