Export, which accounts for about half of the export-driven economy, gained 7.8 percent from a year earlier to 55.80 billion U.S. dollars in November, after growing 5.1 percent in the previous month, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
The turnaround came after decreasing for the past 12 months. In terms of volume, the outbound shipment climbed 4.6 percent last month.
Import declined 11.6 percent to 52.00 billion dollars in November compared to the same month of last year.
Affected by the export rebound, the trade balance recorded a surplus of 3.80 billion dollars, staying in black for the sixth successive month.
The continued export growth was attributed to the recovery in global demand for semiconductors and other major export items such as general machinery and automobiles.
Chip export advanced 12.9 percent from a year earlier to 9.52 billion dollars in November, marking the first rebound in 16 months amid higher memory chip prices.
Shipment for petrochemicals expanded 5.9 percent to 3.78 billion dollars, but oil products export shrank 4.4 percent to 4.60 billion dollars on cheaper crude oil.
Automotive export surged 21.5 percent to 6.53 billion dollars in November, continuing to grow for the 17th straight month on strong demand for eco-friendly vehicles.
General machinery shipment increased 14.1 percent to 4.93 billion dollars, keeping an upward trend for the eighth successive month on higher facility investment in the United States, Europe and Southeast Asian countries.
Steel products export retreated 11.1 percent to 2.65 billion dollars, but display panel shipment went up 5.9 percent to 1.90 billion dollars on higher demand for OLED panels.
Auto parts shipment added 3.9 percent to 1.93 billion dollars, and mobile phone export gained 8.4 percent to 1.76 billion dollars last month.
Home appliances export jumped 14.1 percent to 670 million dollars, keeping an upward trend for the sixth month.
Computer shipment plunged 29.4 percent to 610 million dollars, but secondary battery export soared 23.4 percent to 900 million dollars.
By region, export to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) went up 8.7 percent over the year to 9.83 billion dollars in November, continuing to increase for two months in a row.
Shipment to the United States soared 24.7 percent to 10.95 billion dollars, while export to the European Union (EU) was up 3.7 percent to 5.47 billion dollars.
Export to Japan climbed 11.5 percent to 2.57 billion dollars, and those to Latin America and India advanced to 1.95 billion dollars and 1.53 billion dollars each.
Meanwhile, the import fall was mainly caused by lower energy import costs.
Import for crude oil, natural gas and coal went down 2.7 percent, 45.0 percent and 40.0 percent each in November compared to the same month of last year.
Excluding the energy, the import of other goods declined 7.9 percent on soft demand for clothing, cars and other consumer goods.
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