Seoul: Korea's exports increased 8.4 percent from a year earlier in November to over US$61 billion, marking the sixth consecutive month of increase on the back of strong demand for semiconductors, government data showed Monday. Outbound shipments reached $61.04 billion last month, the highest for any November, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources.
According to Emirates News Agency, imports gained 1.2 percent on-year to $51.3 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $9.73 billion. Accumulated exports from January to November amounted to $640.2 billion, a record high for the period, raising expectations that Korea's annual exports will surpass the $700 billion mark for the first time in its history this year.
Semiconductor exports soared 38.6 percent on-year to an all-time monthly high of $17.26 billion last month, driven by a continued rise in memory chip prices due to strong demand for high-value products for data centers. This marked the ninth consecutive month of on-year increases in chip exports.