Roundup: S.Korea's Oct. exports post fastest decline in 6 years

South Korea's exports, a main growth engine of the export-driven economy, posted the fastest monthly fall in more than six years, boosting worries about a prolonged economic slump, a government report showed Sunday.

Exports, which account for around half of the economy, retreated 15.8 percent from a year earlier to 43.47 billion U.S. dollars in October, after declining 8.3 percent in September, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The figure marked the fastest monthly decline in more than six years since a 20.9 percent plunge in August 2009 when the global financial crisis peaked.

The falling rate of exports slowed down from 11 percent in May to 2.6 percent in June, but it rebounded to 14.9 percent in August and 8.3 percent in September.

Imports dropped 16.6 percent from a year earlier to 36.78 billion dollars in October, after plunging 21.8 percent in September.

The faster reduction in imports than exports sent the October trade surplus to 6.69 billion dollars, maintaining the surplus trend for 45 straight months since February 2012.

Both exports and imports kept a downward trend for the first 10 months of this year, lowering the possibility that the country's trade volume tops 1 trillion dollars in 2015. During the January-October period, the volume of trade stood at 807.8 billion dollars.

In terms of export volume, the outbound shipment shrank 9.4 percent in October from a year earlier, marking the first decline in five months. The government had attributed the past export falls mainly to lower product prices.

Shipment of major export items, excluding mobile devices, declined last month. Exports of petrochemicals and oil products plunged 31.6 percent and 44.9 percent each amid cheaper crude oil and the renovation of facilities.

Ship exports tumbled 63.7 percent in October from a year earlier due to no export of offshore plants, which have led the slump in the shipbuilding industry.

Auto exports slid 1.3 percent on weak demand from emerging market, and steel shipment shrank 29.6 percent on lower product prices. Semiconductor exports retreated 7 percent on soft demand for memory chips, and demand for general machinery and display panels declined 3.7 percent and 9.7 percent respectively.

Exports of telecommunication devices, including smartphones, surged 42.1 percent in October on the back of the launch of new smartphone models.

By region, exports to China, South Korea's largest trading partner, sank 8 percent, with those to the United States sliding 11.4 percent. Those to the European Union tumbled 12.5 percent in October after increasing 19.7 percent in September.

Imports of capital and consumer goods surged 20.9 percent and 13.8 percent each last month, but raw material imports plunged 29 percent amid lower commodity prices. Endit