S.Korea's ICT exports post double-digit growth for 14 months

SEOUL, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's exports of the information and communications technology (ICT) products posted a double-digit growth for 14 months through January, a government report showed Tuesday.

Exports in the ICT sector advanced 28.1 percent over the year to 17.7 billion U.S. dollars in January, bigger than any January figure in history, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The ICT exports kept a double-digit expansion since December 2016 due mainly to solid demand for semiconductors, of which export surged 53.8 percent to 9.86 billion dollars last month.

Shipment for computer and peripherals jumped 38.2 percent to 930 million dollars, but export for display panel fell 5.9 percent to 2.29 billion dollars.

Mobile phone export declined 8.3 percent to 1.39 billion dollars amid the fiercer competition in the global market.

The ICT exports to China, South Korea's biggest trading partner, expanded 29.2 percent from a year earlier to 9.75 billion dollars in January.

Those to the United States gained 6.4 percent to 1.28 billion dollars, with the figures to Vietnam and the European Union (EU) logging 2.46 billion dollars and 940 million dollars respectively.

Imports in the ICT sector soared 19.6 percent to 9.33 billion dollars, sending the trade surplus in the sector to 8.38 billion dollars. The ICT trade surplus more than doubled a 3.72 billion-dollar surplus in all industries. Enditem