South Korea’s exports of industrial parts and materials reached a record high in the first nine months of the year with the country’s trade surplus in the sector expected to top $100 billion for the first time in its history this year, the government said Wednesday.

In the January-September period, outbound shipments of industrial parts and materials came to $203.3 billion, up 4.1 percent from the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The amount also accounts for 48 percent of the country’s overall exports over the cited period.

“Exports continued to grow at a steady pace as shipments to advanced countries, such as Europe, the United States and Japan, rose while those to China also expanded,” the ministry said in a press release.

Shipments to the United States jumped 21 percent on-year to $19.8 billion in the nine-month period from January with exports to China, the world’s single largest importer of South Korean goods, also spiking 20 percent to $69.3 billion. (Yonhap)