SEOUL, Nov 21 (NNN-YONHAP) – South Korea’s export logged a double-digit fall in the first 20 days of this month, leading to a continued trade deficit, customs office data showed today.
Export came to 33.16 billion U.S. dollars in the Nov 1-20 period, down 16.7 percent, compared to the same period last year, according to Customs Service.
The daily average shipment reduced by 11.3 percent in the 20-day period.
Semiconductor export tumbled 29.4 percent, and those for steel, mobile devices and precision machinery, declined in double figures.
Export for cars and oil products advanced by 28.6 percent and 16.1 percent each, in the cited period.
Import shrank 5.5 percent from a year earlier to 37.58 billion dollars, in the first 20 days of Nov, but the daily average import added 0.6 percent.
Import of the country’s three major energy sources, including crude oil, natural gas and coal, stood at 9.86 billion dollars in the Nov 1-20 period, up 17.1 percent from a year earlier.
Import for semiconductors, oil products and semiconductor equipment dropped in double digits.
Due to the faster slide in export than import, the trade deficit amounted to 4.41 billion dollars in the 20-day period.
For the past seven months through Oct, the trade balance remained in the red.– NNN-YONHAP
