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Korea's exports up 13.5% in first 20 days of September

Published: 22 Sep. 2025, 12:08 Updated: 22 Sep. 2025, 12:48

Containers are stacked at Pyeongtaek Port in Gyeonggi on Sept. 4. [YONHAP]

Korea's exports expanded 13.5 percent from a year earlier in the first 20 days of this month, led by a greater number of working days and solid demand for semiconductors, data showed Monday.

Outbound shipments reached $40.12 billion in the Sept. 1 to 20 period, compared with $35.36 billion tallied over the same period last year, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service.

Imports increased 9.9 percent on year to $38.22 billion during the period, resulting in a trade surplus of $1.9 billion, the data showed.

The daily average volume of exports, however, sank 10.6 percent on year to $2.43 billion, as the number of working days in the cited period this year was three-and-a-half days greater than last year's 13 days.

By item, exports of semiconductors surged 27 percent from a year earlier to $9.49 billion. Chip exports accounted for 23.7 percent of the country's total exports over the cited period, up 2.5 percentage points from the same period last year.

Automobile exports advanced 14.9 percent on year to $3.42 billion, while shipments of vessels soared 46.1 percent to $1.51 billion.

Steel exports went up 7.1 percent on year to $2.53 billion, while those of chemical products fell 4.5 percent to $2.68 billion.

By destination, exports to China, Korea's top trading partner, gained 1.6 percent on year to $7.77 billion.

Shipments to the United States rose 6.1 percent to $6.55 billion amid the new tariff scheme by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, the data showed.

In August, exports, a key economic growth engine for the country, rose 1.3 percent on year to $58.4 billion thanks to strong demand for semiconductors.

Yonhap