S.Korea logs trade deficit for 7th month in October on export fall

SEOUL, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- South Korea logged a trade deficit for the seventh consecutive month last month as export posted the first fall in two years amid the still high energy import costs, government data showed Tuesday.

The trade deficit came to 6.7 billion U.S. dollars in October, up from a deficit of 3.78 billion dollars tallied in the previous month, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The trade balance stayed in red for the seventh successive month since April, marking the longest deficit since 1997 when the foreign exchange crisis roiled the South Korean economy.

For the first 10 months of 2022, the accumulated deficit amounted to 35.58 billion dollars, far exceeding the record yearly high of 20.6 billion dollars in 1996.

The continued deficit came from the faltering export, driven by rising concerns about the global economic downturn amid the rapid interest rate hikes in major economies and the still high inflation.

Export, which accounts for about half of the export-driven economy, shrank 5.7 percent from a year earlier to 52.48 billion dollars in October, recording the first reduction in two years since October 2020.

After jumping 21.4 percent in May, the export growth slowed with the expansions of 5.3 percent in June, 8.6 percent in July, 6.6 percent in August and 2.7 percent in September.

Semiconductor export tumbled 17.4 percent over the year to 9.23 billion dollars in October on price falls for memory chips and weaker global demand.

Home appliances shipment dropped 22.3 percent on soft demand from the United States and Europe, and computer export sank 37.1 percent on lower demand for solid-state drives, caused by decreased investment in data centers.

Shipment for display panels and mobile devices reduced 7.9 percent and 5.4 percent each last month.

Steel export plunged 20.8 percent to 2.67 billion dollars in the cited month on lower demand from major economies.

Petrochemicals shipment retreated 25.5 percent to 3.73 billion dollars amid the lingering supply glut, but oil products shipment gained 7.6 percent to 4.39 billion dollars on expensive crude oil.

Automotive export soared 28.5 percent to 4.92 billion dollars, and shipments for auto parts and secondary batteries grew to 1.84 billion dollars and 800 million dollars respectively.

By country, export to the United States and the European Union added 6.6 percent and 10.3 percent each, but those to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Japan declined 5.8 percent and 13.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the country's import advanced 9.9 percent from a year earlier to 59.18 billion dollars in October on the back of the still high energy costs.

Import for South Korea's three major energy sources, including crude oil, natural gas and coal, stood at 15.53 billion dollars in October, up 42.1 percent from the same month of last year.

For the first 10 months of this year, the import of the three key energy sources reached 71.6 billion dollars, doubling the accumulated trade deficit in the 10-month period.