South Korea's exports are expected to fall for the 10th consecutive month in September, a poll showed on Sunday, amid a protracted slump in the memory chip segment, the backbone of Asia's No.-4 economy.

Outbound shipments are expected to decrease 10.3 percent this month on-year at $45.4 billion, according to the poll conducted by Yonhap Infomax, the financial service arm of Yonhap News Agency.

The trade surplus, meanwhile, is expected to reach $5.2 billion, marking 92 straight months in which the country's exports have exceeded imports.

The survey was conducted on 10 South Korean brokerage houses.

South Korea's trade ministry plans to release the official data on Tuesday.

The country's exports have been losing ground due to the falling prices of semiconductors, the country's top export product, along with the yearlong trade tension between the United States and China, which are South Korea's top two trading partners.

South Korea's exports fell 21.8 percent in the first 20 days of September, due mainly to the decreased number of working days following the Chuseok holiday, the Korean autumn harvest celebration.

In August, South Korea's exports slipped 13.6 percent on-year, with those of chips nosediving a whopping 30.7 percent.

South Korea's exports may hit its nadir around October or November, before rebounding in tune with the recovery of the global price of memory chips, analysts said. (Yonhap)