▲ This file photo shows containers being unloaded at a port in the southeastern city of Busan. (Yonhap)

exports-Q1 tally

S. Korea's Q1 exports sink 12.6 pct on weak chip demand

SEOUL, April 25 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's exports dipped nearly 13 percent in the first quarter of 2023 due largely to sluggish chip shipments, a trade body said Tuesday.

Overseas shipments stood at US$151.5 billion in the January-March period, down 12.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea International Trade Association (KITA).

The country's imports fell 2.2 percent on-year to $174 billion in the three-month period, resulting in a trade deficit of $22.5 billion.

South Korea's exports sank 16.4 percent on-year in January, 7.6 percent in February and 13.6 percent in March. Imports dropped 2.8 percent in January before rising 3.5 percent in February and declining 6.4 percent in March.

KITA attributed the sharp fall in first-quarter exports mainly to decreased semiconductor shipments to China, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Exports of chips and other intermediate goods tumbled 19.5 percent in the first quarter of this year, a sharp turnaround from a 9 percent increase a year earlier.

In particular, chip exports nose-dived 40 percent on-year, with those of steel products shrinking 15.8 percent.

South Korea's overall exports to China plunged nearly 30 percent on-year in the first three months of the year, with those to Vietnam and Japan dipping 25.2 percent and 10.1 percent each.

In contrast, shipments to the United States climbed 3.5 percent and those to the European Union increased 3.8 percent.

The data also showed South Korea's auto exports surging 44 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier.

The trade organization called on the government to take special measures, including lower interest for loans to exporting companies, in order to cope with the country's slumping exports.

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