Korea's exports rise 11.2% in first 10 days of January, China-bound shipments rebound

Pictured are containers stacked at Busan Port on Jan. 1. [YONHAP]

Korea's exports rose 11.2 percent on-year in the first 10 days of January, while there was a rebound in China-bound shipments, according to Korea Customs Service data on Thursday.

Outbound shipments reached $15.44 billion in the Jan. 1 to 10 period, compared with $13.89 billion tallied a year earlier, the data showed.

Exports to China rose 10.1 percent in the same period compared to a year before. This is the first time in 20 months that China-bound shipments have increased since May 2022, when it rose 9.7 percent.

On a monthly basis, exports to China had decreased for 19 months from June last year until last month. The United States had overtaken China as Korea's top export partner last month for the first time in 20 years.

China-bound exports were at $3.24 billion in the 10-day period, while U.S.-bound exports were at $2.642 billion.

After a yearlong downtrend, exports have logged on-year monthly gains from October last year. In December, exports went up 5.1 percent, though they fell 7.4 percent to come to $632.6 billion for the whole 2023.

The trade deficit stood at $3 billion, up from $1.47 billion last month. The monthly trade balance has been in the black for seven consecutive months.

The government expects exports, a key economic growth engine, to advance 8.5 percent this year to reach a record high of over $700 billion.

BY KIM JU-YEON, YONHAP [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]