South Korea's trade deficit narrowed in February as strong export growth offset the surge in crude oil prices, a government report showed Monday.
The country's trade deficit stood at $808 million last month, compared with $3.69 billion the month before, according to the Ministry of Knowledge-based Economy.
The figure marks the third month in a row that the country's trade balance has stayed in the red, despite a rise in exports. South Korea posted a trade deficit for the first time in 57 months in December.
Exports rose 20.2 percent to $31.5 billion last month, while imports shot up 27.3 percent to a record $32.3 billion.
The latest tally showed that imports of crude oil and other raw materials rose 36.0 percent annually last month. Crude imports led the gain by jumping 60 percent to $6.2 billion last month.
"Despite the surge in crude oil imports, that cost $91.4 a barrel for the Dubai brand last month, increased exports of ships, machinery, processed oil products, display screens and mobile telecommunication equipment, helped reduce the size of the deficit," said Oh Jung-kyu, head of the ministry's trade and investment promotion bureau.
He said ship exports soared 54.2 percent last month, followed by gains of 47.2 percent and 42.1 posted by general machinery and oil products respectively. Exports of display panels, petrochemicals, and mobile communications equipment all grew by more than 20 percent compared to February 2007.
However, exports of semiconductors fell by 16.1 percent due to weak prices for DRAM memory chips, the official said. Exports to Association of Southeast Asian Nations gained 50.9 percent year-on-year last month, with shipments to the Middle East and Japan rising 48.3 percent and 10.1 percent each. Exports to China were up 6.1 percent.
South Korea's exports to the United States and the European Union were down 19.7 percent and 3.4 percent in the cited period as demand for autos and semiconductors declined, the ministry said. (Yonhap)