South Korea’s exports of information-communication technology products dropped from a year earlier last month partly on a decrease in shipments to China, the government said Thursday.

Outbound shipments of ICT products came to $14.19 billion in August, down 2.1 percent from the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Imports increased 5.9 percent on-year to $6.73 billion, causing the country’s trade surplus in the sector to shrink to $7.46 billion from $8.13 billion in August 2013.

The ministry partly attributed the drop in exports to a cut in the number of working days by one in August, noting the daily average amount of exports for working days had increased to $630 million from $617 million a year earlier. “The drop in exports, despite a rise in the daily average amount, is believed to be due to a base effect created by a surprising 11.4 percent on-year spike in August 2013, as well as poor performance by some export items,” it said in a press release.

Shipments of digital televisions tumbled 35.5 percent on-year to $560 million, with those of computers and computer parts also dwindling 4.6 percent to $550 million. (Yonhap)