Seoul, Dec 11 || South Korea's exports jumped 17.3 per cent from a year earlier in the first 10 days of December, bolstered by robust global demand for semiconductors and an increase in working days, data showed on Thursday.
Outbound shipments reached $20.58 billion in the December 1-10 period, compared with $17.54 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. It marked the largest figure ever for any 10-day period, reports news agency.
Average daily exports climbed 3.5 percent on-year to $2.42 billion, according to the customs office. The number of working days during the period came to 8.5 days, compared with 7.5 days a year earlier.
Imports rose 8 percent on-year to $20.65 billion over the period, resulting in a trade deficit of $70 million, the data showed.
Chip shipments spiked 45.9 percent from a year earlier to $5.27 billion. Semiconductor exports accounted for 25.6 percent of the country's total exports during the 10-day period, up 5 percentage points from a year earlier.
Exports of petrochemical products advanced 23.1 percent on-year to $1.51 billion, while steel exports edged up 1.9 percent to $1.19 billion.