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| ▲ This file photo taken March 21, 2023, shows a port in the southeastern city of Busan. (Yonhap) |
(LEAD) trade balance-March
(LEAD) S. Korea's exports down for 6th month in March on falling chip demand
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By Oh Seok-min
SEOUL, April 1 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's exports fell for the sixth consecutive month in March due mainly to weak global demand for semiconductors amid an economic slowdown, the industry ministry said Saturday.
Outbound shipments fell 13.6 percent on-year to US$55.12 billion last month, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
Exports have logged an on-year fall since October last year amid aggressive monetary tightening by major economies to curb inflation. It is also the first time since 2020 that exports have declined for six months in a row.
The decline came as exports of semiconductors, the country's key export item, dived 34.5 percent in March on falling demand and a drop in chip prices.
A high base effect was also behind the fall last month, as exports hit an all-time high of $63.8 billion in March 2022, the ministry said.
The decline logged last month was steeper than a 7.5 percent fall the previous month, but the export value grew to over $55 billion for the first time in six months, it added.
Imports fell 6.4 percent on-year to $59.75 billion in March, as the country's energy imports went down 11.1 percent on-year, the ministry said. South Korea depends on imports for most of its energy needs.
Accordingly, the country suffered a trade deficit of $4.62 billion last month.
Imports have exceeded exports in South Korea since April last year on high energy prices, and it is the first time since 1997 that the country has logged a trade deficit for 13 months in a row.
The trade deficit for the first three months of this year surpassed more than half of the losses reported for all of 2022. Last year, the country logged its largest trade deficit of $47.8 billion ever.
By nation, exports to China, South Korea's No. 1 trading partner, sank 33.4 percent last month, extending the losing streak to the 10th month. China's demand for chips and petrochemical products has weakened amid an economic slowdown, the ministry said.
Shipments to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) also skidded 21 percent in March, as South Korea's exports with Vietnam, the top trading partner among ASEAN countries, reported a marked decline, it noted.
ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam.
But exports to the United States inched up 1.6 percent, and those to the Middle Eastern nations jumped 21.6 percent last month.
The South Korean government has vowed all-out efforts to prop up exports, a key economic growth engine, after setting this year's export target at $685 billion, up 0.2 percent from last year's total.
The finance ministry earlier forecast exports would mark a 4.5 percent on-year decline in 2023.
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