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South Korea Posts Trade Deficit as Commodity Prices Soar

Exports rose 14.9% year-on-year to $18.74 billion, boosted by a 28.5% jump in sales of semiconductors and a 98.8% surge in petroleum products


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Analysts said the Ukraine crisis was also likely to cause inflationary pressure that the Bank of Korea and other central banks would like to quell. Photo: AFP.

 

South Korea posted a $1.39 billion trade deficit for the first 10 days of March, customs agency data showed on Friday, with soaring commodities prices heightening pressure on the trade-reliant economy.

Exports during the period rose 14.9% year-on-year to $18.74 billion, boosted by a 28.5% jump in sales of semiconductors, the nation’s top foreign exchange earner, and a 98.8% surge in those of petroleum products.

Shipments of steel products also jumped 25.6%.

Data showed overall exports to China, the country’s biggest trading partner, rose 13.5%, while sales to the US and European Union also increased 7.2% and 9%, respectively.

Imports for March 1-10 period rose 15.3% from a year earlier to $20.13 billion, mostly due to a sharp rise in the price of commodities.

Imports of crude oil, gas and petroleum products soared 43.6%, 87% and 46.3%, respectively, while purchases of semiconductors also jumped 18.8%.

Oil prices hit their highest since 2008 earlier this week, with the United States banning imports of Russian oil as a punishment for the invasion of Ukraine. Russia exports around 7 million bpd of oil and refined products or 7% of global supply.

By country, overall imports from China and the US increased 18.3% and 0.8%, respectively, while those from Saudi Arabia expanded 109.2% from a year earlier.

 

  • Reuters, with additional editing by George Russell

 

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George Russell

George Russell is a freelance writer and editor based in Hong Kong who has lived in Asia since 1996. His work has been published in the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, New York Post, Variety, Forbes and the South China Morning Post.