S.Korea's ICT exports fall for 11 months

South Korea's exports in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector declined for 11 straight months due to soft demand for handsets, the country's main export item, a government report showed on Monday.

ICT exports fell 2.1 percent from a year earlier to 14.13 billion U.S. dollars in August, posting the 11 consecutive month of decline, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Imports in the ICT industry was 7.53 billion dollars, sending the August trade surplus in the sector to 6.59 billion dollars. The ICT surplus exceeded a surplus of 5.3 billion dollars recorded in overall industries.

Shipments of handsets and their accessories tumbled 18.1 percent in August compared with a year earlier, speeding up its decline from falls of 7.9 percent in April to 10.1 percent in July.

Outlook for mobile phone exports got dimmer as Samsung Electronics decided on Sept. 2 to recall all of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones sold worldwide after dozens of complaints were reported against faulty batteries catching fire while charging.

Local handset makers increased production in overseas factories, contributing to falling exports of the country's main export item.

Display panel exports reduced 6.8 percent last month, but semiconductor shipments increased 2.5 percent on robust demand for memory chips and stable chip prices.

By country, exports to Vietnam jumped 31.1 percent, but those to China and the United States, South Korea's top two export destinations, declined 3.7 percent and 5.2 percent respectively. Enditem