South Korea's exports decreased 13.5 percent in June from a year earlier, extending their on-year fall for the seventh consecutive month, data showed Monday, due mainly to the prolonged trade row between the world's top two economies.
Outbound shipments came to $44.18 billion for June, down from the $51 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
Imports fell 11.1 percent on-year last month to $40 billion, the ministry added.
(Yonhap)
The country's trade surplus came to $4.17 billion in June, marking 89 straight months in which the country's exports have exceeded imports.
Over the first half of 2019, exports moved down 8.5 percent on-year to reach $271.5 billion, and imports shed 5.1 percent to $252 billion.
The trade surplus over the January-June period reached $19.5 billion, the ministry added.
The ministry attributed the on-year drop in June to the prolonged trade dispute between China and the United States, which are also the country's top two trading partners.
South Korea's overall monthly exports lost ground mostly due to semiconductors, the country's main export good, whose shipments fell a whopping 25.5 percent over the cited period, according to the ministry.
The petrochemical segment experienced a 24.5 percent drop in its outbound shipments, it added.
Exports to China, the biggest trading partner for Asia's fourth-largest economy, slipped 24.1 percent in June from a year earlier, marking the largest on-year slip since the 25.6 percent drop posted in May 2009.
The sound performance of ships and automobiles, however, made up for some of the losses caused by chips and petrochemical goods, the data showed. (Yonhap)
