SEOUL, March 1 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's export rose in single digits last month due to strong demand for mobile devices, computers and automobiles, government data showed Saturday.
Export, which accounts for about half of the economy, added 1.0 percent from a year earlier to 52.60 billion U.S. dollars in February, after sliding 10.2 percent in the previous month, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
Import grew 0.2 percent to 48.30 billion dollars, sending the trade surplus to 4.30 billion dollars. The trade balance turned into the black in February from a deficit of 1.90 billion dollars in the previous month.
Of the country's 15 major export items, 11 products saw a fall in outbound shipment.
Semiconductor export shrank 3.0 percent from a year earlier to 9.65 billion dollars in February owing to lower price for general-purpose chips that offset robust demand for high-end chips such as DDR5 and high bandwidth memory (HBM) used in generative artificial intelligence chipsets.
Display panel shipment retreated 5.8 percent to 1.27 billion dollars, but automotive export jumped 17.8 percent to 6.07 billion dollars, marking the first turnaround in four months.
Computer export surged 28.5 percent to 800 million dollars, keeping an upward trend for the 14th successive month on steady demand for solid state drive (SSD).
Mobile device shipment soared 42.3 percent to 1.47 billion dollars on the back of higher demand for mobile phone components.
Auto parts export was reduced 4.1 percent to 1.87 billion dollars, and general machinery shipment dwindled 12.3 percent to 3.89 billion dollars.
Export for oil products dived 12.2 percent to 3.89 billion dollars due to lower product price.
Global prices for gasoline and diesel went down 11.3 percent and 13.9 percent each in February on a yearly basis.
Petrochemical shipment decreased 2.2 percent to 3.87 billion dollars on the global supply glut that offset expensive crude oil.
Dubai crude, South Korea's benchmark, averaged 80.4 dollars per barrel in January, up 2.0 percent from a year ago.
Steel product export fell 4.4 percent to 2.56 billion dollars, while those for home appliances, textiles, and secondary batteries declined in single digits to 630 million dollars, 810 million dollars and 630 million dollars each.
Export to the United States grew 1.0 percent from a year earlier to 9.91 billion dollars in February on higher demand for chips and computers.
Shipment to the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) spiked 12.6 percent to 9.58 billion dollars due to solid demand for chips, oil products and ships, but export to the European Union (EU) retreated 8.1 percent to 5.21 billion dollars.
Export to Japan and Latin America, shrank to 2.26 billion dollars and 2.19 billion dollars, respectively, while those to India and the Middle East jumped in double digits to 1.75 billion dollars and 1.72 billion dollars each.
Regarding import items, the import of three major energy sources, including crude oil, natural gas and coal, dropped 21.5 percent to 9.40 billion dollars last month.
Non-energy imports gained 7.4 percent to 38.90 billion dollars on solid demand for semiconductor equipment and oil products. ■
