S.Korea logs about 7.7 bln USD of trade deficit in 1st 10 days of August

SEOUL, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- South Korea logged a trade deficit in the first 10 days of August due to a faster increase in import than export, customs office data showed Thursday.

The trade deficit amounted to 7.68 billion U.S. dollars in the Aug. 1-10 period, according to Korea Customs Service.

The trade balance stayed in the red most months of this year, with deficits of 4.9 billion dollars in January, 2.48 billion dollars in April, 1.61 billion dollars in May, 2.58 billion dollars in June and 4.67 billion dollars in July respectively.

Export gained 23.2 percent from a year earlier to 15.69 billion dollars in the 10-day period, and import surged 34.1 percent to 23.37 billion dollars.

Import of the country's three major energy sources, including crude oil, natural gas and coal, came in at 6.19 billion dollars for the first 10 days of August, up 74.9 percent from the same period of last year.

Import from Saudi Arabia almost doubled in the cited period, and those from the United States and Japan increased in double figures.

Export for oil products and automobiles soared in triple digits, but semiconductor shipment shrank 5.1 percent.

Shipment for mobile devices and computers declined in double figures, but export for auto parts and steel products logged a double-digit expansion.

Export to the United States and the European Union (EU) climbed 17.5 percent and 66.2 percent each, and shipments to Vietnam advanced 10.2 percent.