Roundup: S.Korea's exports turn downward on auto strikes, Galaxy Note 7 recall

South Korea's exports turned downward in September after rebounding in the previous month due to labor strikes in major automakers and Samsung Electronics' global recall of its new flagship Galaxy Note 7 smartphone, a government report showed on Saturday.

Exports, which account for about half of the economy, amounted to 40.9 billion U.S. dollars in September, down 5.9 percent from the same month of last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE).

It was a downturn after rebounding in August for the first time in 20 months as key carmakers, including Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors and GM Korea, went on partial strikes.

The ministry said labor strikes among the automakers reduced exports by 1.14 billion dollars, or 2.6 percentage points, last month.

Samsung's global recall of about 2.5 million Note 7 smartphones also contributed to the export downturn. Hundreds of the phones were globally reported to have caught fire while charging due to faulty battery cell.

Imports dipped 2.3 percent from a year earlier to 33.8 billion dollars in September, sending the trade surplus to 7.1 billion dollars.

The trade balance stayed in black for 56 months since February 2012, but it was a so-called recession-type surplus as both exports and imports declined amid economic slowdown.

Car exports tumbled 24.0 percent in September from a year earlier. The number of delayed car exports caused by labor strikes reached 79,000 last month.

Hyundai Motor, the country's No.1 automaker, faced 22 labor strikes this year as of Thursday, causing an estimated production delay of 121,167 vehicles worth about 2.7 trillion won (2.45 billion U.S. dollars).

The company's labor union and the management reached a tentative agreement on a wage hike for next year in late August, but more than three fourths of labor unionists voted against the agreement, calling for a higher wage increase.

The management proposed a revised wage hike, which the labor union refused to accept on Thursday. Partial strikes are widely expected to continue this month.

Exports of telecommunication devices plunged 27.9 percent in September, marking the fastest fall in more than four years due to the Galaxy Note 7 recall.

Ship exports slumped 13.6 percent due to the ongoing restructuring process among key shipbuilders to reduce production capacity by 20 percent and workforce by 30 percent by the end of 2018.

Shipments of display panels and oil products declined 3.7 percent and 13.4 percent each, with those for chips, petrochemicals, general machinery and steel products all going down last month.

Cosmetics exports, however, surged 75.1 percent last month, recording the biggest monthly exports at 420 million dollars. Shipments of solid state drive (SSD) gained 22.9 percent, while OLED panel shipments grew for 17 straight months.

Auto parts exports rose 3.5 percent, and computer shipments kept a growth trend for five months in a row.

By region, exports to China, South Korea's biggest trading partner, declined 9.1 percent, with those to the United States and the European Union (EU) sliding 6.1 percent and 14.5 percent each.

Exports to Vietnam continued to rise for eight straight months, with those to Japan increasing 6.3 percent. Shipments of Latin American countries inched up 0.2 percent, the first growth since March last year. Enditem