The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Feb. 1 said in a report on export and import trends last month that exports in January reached USD 48.01 billion, up 11.4% from the same month last year. (Yonhap News)
By Lee Hana and Lee Jihae
Exports last month jumped 11.4% from January last year, with overall shipments and the daily export average rising for the third consecutive month since November last year.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Feb. 1 said in a report on January export and import trends that exports overall reached USD 48.01 billion last month.
This was the second-highest export volume in the month since USD 49.2 billion in January 2018 and the second straight month of double-digit growth since December last year.
January was also the first time in 40 months for the country to see double-digit growth for two straight months since August and September 2017.
The daily export average surpassed USD 2.1 billion to set a record high for January.
Export unit prices saw 29.9% growth, the highest in three years and nine months. Leading the export growth of high-value added products were system semiconductors (16%), electric cars (81%), OLED (52.1%) and medical supplies (64%).
Among 15 leading export items, 12 -- semiconductors, cars, petrochemicals, automotive components, ships, wireless communication devices, displays, household electronics, biohealth and secondary batteries -- saw exports rise, the most since October 2018.
In information and technology (IT) exports, those of all six IT goods rose for the third month in a row. Shipments of semiconductors rose for five straight months (21.7%), while those of wireless communication devices (58%) marked their biggest growth in 16 years and displays (32.2%) their highest in 10.
Car exports (40.2%) saw their highest growth since September 2017, and those of biohealth (66.5%) grew for the 17th month in a row.
Petrochemicals (8.6%) marked positive growth for the first time in 26 months and steel (6%) for the first time in four.
By export market, Korea's three biggest last month all saw growth of more than 20%: China (22%), the U.S. (46.1%) and the European Union (23.9%). Shipments to the American market in January also reached a record-high USD 8.39 billion.
hlee10@korea.kr
