Exports rise 24.4 percent in first 10 days of January

Stacks of containers at a port in Korea's southeastern city of Busan are seen in this Dec. 1, 2021, file photo. Yonhap

Korea's exports grew 24.4 percent year-on-year in the first 10 days of January on the back of solid demand for semiconductors, cars and petroleum products, customs data showed Tuesday.

The country's outbound shipments stood at $13.9 billion in the Jan. 1 to 10 period, compared with $11.2 billion the previous year, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service.

Imports jumped 57.1 percent year-on-year to $18.9 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of $4.95 billion during the cited period.

By sector, outbound shipments of memory chips, a key export item, rose 23.3 percent year-on-year.

Semiconductors accounted for about 20 percent of exports by South Korea, home to Samsung Electronics, the world's largest memory chip maker, and its smaller rival SK hynix.

Exports of petroleum products soared 135.3 percent as oil prices remained high amid the global economic recovery.

Shipments of autos gained 26.2 percent despite a global shortage of automotive chips ― these account for 7 percent of Korea's exports.

By country, shipments to China, Korea's largest trading partner, rose 22.6 percent year-on-year, while those to the United States increased 35.1 percent.

Asia's fourth-largest economy is on a recovery path on the back of robust exports.

Exports, which account for half of the economy, grew 18.3 percent in December last year, extending their gains for the 14th straight month.

For all of 2021, exports rose 25.8 percent from the previous year to hit a record high of $644.5 billion ― total trade volume also reached an all-time high of $1.26 trillion.

The government earlier forecast exports will remain robust in 2022, though the growth pace will slow due to the base effect. The finance ministry expects overseas shipments to grow 2 percent this year.

The Bank of Korea forecast the economy to expand 3 percent this year after an estimated 4 percent growth last year. The finance ministry expects the Korean economy to grow 3.1 percent in 2022. (Yonhap)