South Korea's exports surged 50.4 percent year-on-year to $53.3 billion in the first 20 days of March, driven by strong semiconductor demand. Korea Customs Service data showed a trade surplus of $12.1 billion for the period.
Data released Monday by the Korea Customs Service showed South Korea's exports reached $53.3 billion in the March 1-20 period (15 working days), up 50.4 percent from $35.4 billion a year earlier. This marked the largest exports ever for the cited period. Per-day exports rose 40.4 percent to $3.55 billion. Imports grew 19.7 percent to $41.2 billion, yielding a $12.1 billion trade surplus. Semiconductor exports surged 163.9 percent to a record $18.7 billion, the highest for any first 20 days of a month, driven by rising memory chip prices amid demand for artificial intelligence servers. Chips accounted for 35 percent of total exports, up 15.1 percentage points from last year. Petroleum product exports jumped 49 percent to $3.2 billion. Automobile exports increased 11.1 percent to $3.7 billion, while vessel shipments fell 3.9 percent to $2.1 billion. Exports to China, the top partner, soared 69 percent to $10.8 billion. Shipments to the United States rose 57.8 percent to $10.6 billion despite tariffs under U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, according to Yonhap News Agency.
