Roundup: S.Korea logs trade deficit for 2 months on higher energy costs

SEOUL, June 1 (Xinhua) -- South Korea logged a trade deficit for two months in May due to faster import than export, caused by higher energy costs, government data showed Wednesday.

The trade deficit amounted to 1.70 billion U.S. dollars in May, after recording 2.51 billion dollars in the previous month, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The country logged a trade surplus in February and March, after posting a deficit in January.

The recent trade deficit came as import grew at a faster pace than export amid higher global commodity prices, driven by geopolitical risks in Europe and supply chain disruptions.

Export advanced 21.3 percent from a year earlier to 61.52 billion dollars in May, while import jumped 32.0 percent to 63.22 billion dollars.

The import has topped 60 billion dollars for the third consecutive month on higher energy import costs.

The import of the country's three key energy sources, including crude oil, natural gas and coal, stood at 14.75 billion dollars in May, up 84.4 percent from a year earlier.

Coal imports more than tripled to reach a new monthly high of 2.78 billion dollars last month, and imports for copper ore and aluminum gained in double figures.

Import for farm products, such as wheat and corn, came to 2.42 billion dollars in May, surpassing 20 billion dollars for the third straight month.

The daily average import spiked 20.5 percent to 2.75 billion dollars, while the daily average export rose 10.7 percent to 2.67 billion dollars last month.

The May export hit the second-highest monthly figure in the country's history, keeping a double-digit gain for the 15th straight month since March 2021. The record-high export was 63.79 billion dollars tallied in March this year.

For the first five months of this year, the outbound shipment reached a fresh high of 292.6 billion dollars, up 17.8 percent compared to the same period of last year.

Among 15 major export items, nine posted a double-digit expansion in May.

Semiconductor exports climbed 15.0 percent from a year earlier to 11.55 billion dollars in May, continuing to increase for 23 months in a row.

Exports for petrochemicals and steel products went up for 17 straight months to 5.18 billion dollars and 3.66 billion dollars, respectively.

Oil products exports more than doubled to hit the highest May figure of 6.4 billion dollars, and automotive shipment picked up 18.9 percent to 4.15 billion dollars.

Shipment for general machinery and computers climbed for the 15th consecutive month to 4.41 billion dollars and 1.65 billion dollars each, while display panel export maintained a growth trend for 14 months to 1.52 billion dollars.

Export to China, South Korea's biggest trading partner, rebounded 1.2 percent to 13.41 billion dollars last month.

Shipment to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations spiked 23.0 percent over the year to 10.64 billion dollars in May, and those to the United States and the European Union gained in double figures to 9.62 billion dollars and 6.05 billion dollars, respectively.

Export to Japan, India, Latin American countries and the Middle East also logged a double-digit rise at 2.83 billion dollars, 1.69 billion dollars, 2.70 billion dollars and 1.56 billion dollars each last month.