Roundup: S. Korea's exports post biggest monthly fall in over 6 years

South Korea's exports posted the biggest monthly decline in more than six years during the first month of this year due to continued fall in crude oil prices and economic slowdown in China, the biggest trading partner of the country, a government report showed on Monday.

Exports, which account for around half of the Asia's No. 4 economy, tumbled 18.5 percent from a year ago to 36.7 billion U.S. dollars in January, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

It marked the largest monthly reduction since August 2009 when the outbound shipments dropped 20.9 percent amid the peak of the global financial crisis.

On a month-by-month basis, exports kept a downward trend last year, with the biggest monthly fall of 16 percent in October. For the whole year of 2015, exports shrank 7.9 percent compared with the previous year.

The thirteenth straight months of export fall came as China, from which South Korea generates about a quarter of its exports, saw its growth slump in the course of the world No. 2 economy's structural transition from exports-oriented to domestic demand-centered.

Lower crude oil prices dragged down the export prices of South Korea's petrochemicals and oil products. Exports of oil products plunged 35.6 percent from a year earlier to 1 billion dollars in January, and petrochemical exports shrank 18.8 percent to 0.6 billion dollars.

Other major export items saw export prices decline amid the lackluster global demand. Steel prices retreated to 727 dollars a ton in 2015, down 25.8 percent from 979 dollars in 2014. Prices for four-gigabyte DRAM chips shed from 3.59 dollars to 1.89 dollars, with 32-inch liquid crystal display panel prices dropping from 95 dollars to 55 dollars.

Steel exports sank 19.9 percent in January from a year earlier, with those for automobiles and general machinery sliding 21.5 percent and 15.2 percent each. Shipments of semiconductors and flat screens shrank 13.7 percent and 30.8 percent respectively, and those for textiles and telecommunication devices shed 14.7 percent and 7.3 percent.

By region, exports to the European Union expanded 7.3 percent thanks to demand for ships and petrochemical products, but those to the United States, China and Japan dipped 9.2 percent, 21.5 percent and 18.2 percent each.

A one-day slide of business days in January compared with the same month of last year contributed to a decline in exports from South Korea. Delivery of ships reduced to 3 billion dollars in January from 4.4 billion dollars a year earlier.

Imports slumped at a faster pace than exports at 31.4 billion dollars in January, down 20.1 percent from a year ago. Both exports and imports maintained a downward trend for 13 straight months.

Helped by faster fall in imports than exports, trade surplus reached 5.3 billion dollars, maintaining a surplus trend for four years since February 2012.

Imports of capital and consumer goods reduced 10 percent and 3.8 percent each in January on a yearly basis on the back of slumping private consumption. Enditem