Home > Business > Economy

Exports up 5.4% during first 10 days of June on strong chip, automobile demand

Published: 11 Jun. 2025, 11:17 Updated: 11 Jun. 2025, 14:37

Export vehicles are parked at Pyeongtaek Port in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, on June 1. [YONHAP]

Korea's exports went up 5.4 percent from a year earlier in the first 10 days of this month driven by robust demand for semiconductors and automobiles, data showed Wednesday.

Outbound shipments reached $15.47 billion in the June 1 to 10 period, compared with $14.68 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service.

The daily average volume of exports jumped 15 percent on year over the cited period. The number of working days during this period stood at 5.5, compared with 6 days last year.

Imports jumped 11.5 percent on year to $17.18 billion during the period, resulting in a trade deficit of $1.7 billion.

By item, exports of semiconductors surged 22 percent from a year earlier to $3.62 billion. Chip exports accounted for 23.5 percent of the country's total outbound shipments over the cited period, up 3.2 percentage points from the same period last year.

Shipments of automobiles went up 8.4 percent on year to $1.3 billion, and those of shipbuilding skyrocketed 23.4 percent to $896 million.

But sales of petroleum products shed 20.5 percent on year to $1.11 billion.

By destination, exports to China, the top trading partner of Korea, went up 2.9 percent to $3.06 billion, while those to the European Union spiked 14.5 percent to $1.5 billion. Shipments to the United States also went up 3.9 percent on year to $2.95 billion, the data showed.

"It remains to be seen whether the upward trend in monthly exports will continue," a customs agency official said.

In May, exports dropped 1.3 percent from a year earlier to $57.3 billion, snapping a three-month winning streak, as outbound shipments to the United States sharply went down largely due to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff measures.

Yonhap