South Korea achieved its first trade surplus since early last year in June as car exports continued to climb and semiconductor shipments stalled.
On Saturday, trade ministry data revealed that Asia’s fourth-largest economy’s exports plummeted 6.0% in June from a year earlier to $54.24 billion, reducing from a 15.2% decrease in May.
The government said the trade balance improvement might stall in July and August owing to seasonal factors but should resume as exports grow.
The export dip was deeper than Reuters’ 3.0% prediction but remained the second-smallest in a downturn that began in October.
Semiconductor exports declined 28.0%, the least in eight months. Ship exports surged 98.6%, while automobile exports rose 58.3% for the 12th month.
Shipments to China decreased 19.0%, the lowest since October, while US shipments fell 1.9% for the third month. EU exports grew by 9.2%.
Imports declined 11.7% to $53.11 billion, down from 14.0% the month before but higher than economists’ 11.0% forecast.
After 15 months of deficits, the export-dependent economy produced a $1.13 billion trade surplus in June.
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