South Korea’s exports fell by 4.8 percent in the first 10 days of this month from a year earlier due largely to a decline in shipments of chips and fewer working days, customs data showed Monday.

The country’s outbound shipments reached US$15.3 billion in the November 1-10 period, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service.

The office said that daily average exports, which reflect working days, rose 1.1 percent on-year to $1.91 billion compared to a year earlier.

By product, outbound shipments of petrochemical goods advanced 11.8 percent, with exports of ships more than tripling.

On the other hand, semiconductor exports plunged 5.4 percent, the latest numbers showed.

Exports to China and the United States fell by 13.4 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively, while shipments to Vietnam, the European Union and Taiwan rose 1.8 percent, 19.1 percent and 51.2 percent, the data showed.

The country imported goods worth $15.7 billion during the cited period, up 2.7 percent from a year earlier.

South Korea’s exports surged in October compared with a year ago on upbeat sales of memory chips and petrochemical products.

Outbound shipments reached US$54.97 billion last month, a 22.7 percent surge from a year ago and the second-highest monthly tally since September 2017, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. (Yonhap)