Seoul, Dec 11 (IANS) South Korea’s exports jumped 17.3 per cent from a year earlier in the first 10 days of December, bolstered by robust global demand for semiconductors and an increase in working days, data showed on Thursday.

Outbound shipments reached $20.58 billion in the December 1-10 period, compared with $17.54 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. It marked the largest figure ever for any 10-day period, reports Yonhap news agency.

Average daily exports climbed 3.5 percent on-year to $2.42 billion, according to the customs office. The number of working days during the period came to 8.5 days, compared with 7.5 days a year earlier.

Imports rose 8 percent on-year to $20.65 billion over the period, resulting in a trade deficit of $70 million, the data showed.

Chip shipments spiked 45.9 percent from a year earlier to $5.27 billion. Semiconductor exports accounted for 25.6 percent of the country’s total exports during the 10-day period, up 5 percentage points from a year earlier.

Exports of petrochemical products advanced 23.1 percent on-year to $1.51 billion, while steel exports edged up 1.9 percent to $1.19 billion.

But automobile exports shed 5.7 percent on-year to $1.36 billion, and vessel shipments tumbled 47.7 percent to $567 million.

By destination, exports to China, South Korea’s top trading partner, increased 12.9 percent to $4.23 billion.

But exports to the United States fell 3.2 percent on-year to $3.57 billion amid Washington’s new tariff measures.

Shipments to Vietnam soared 35.8 percent to $2.13 billion, and those to the European Union gained 2.6 percent to $1.59 billion.

In November, exports increased 8.4 percent from a year earlier to $61.04 billion, the highest for any November, driven by strong demand for semiconductors.

Accumulated exports in the January-November period reached $640.2 billion, a record high for the cited period, raising expectations that the country’s annual exports will surpass the $700 billion mark for the first time in its history this year.

—IANS

na/