SEOUL, Jan 21 (NNN-YONHAP) – South Korea’s export logged double-digit growth in the first 20 days of Jan, owing to continued recovery in global demand, customs office data showed, today.
Export, which takes up about half of the export-driven economy, amounted to 34.4 billion U.S. dollars in the Jan 1 to Jan 20 period, up 22 percent from the same period last year, according to Korea Customs Service.
Semiconductor and automotive export jumped more than 20 percent, and oil products shipment soared 84 percent, on higher price for global crude oil in the 20-day period.
Export for home appliances more than doubled in the period, but the shipment of telecommunication devices, such as smartphones, tumbled 40.4 percent.
Export to China, South Korea’s biggest trading partner, gained 18.8 percent for the first 20 days of this month, and those to the United States and the European Union expanded 28 percent and 15.8 percent each.
Import spiked 38.4 percent to 40 billion dollars in the 20-day period, sending the trade deficit to 5.6 billion dollars.
Crude oil import almost doubled on higher price, and natural gas import more than tripled in the period.– NNN-YONHAP
