South Korea’s exports rose 4.5 percent in February from a year earlier, marking the first improvement after falling for 14 consecutive months, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy’s report on Sunday. 

According to the data, South Korea’s exports in February increased by 4.5 percent to $41.2 billion, compared to $39.4 billion in the same month last year. The average daily exports went down by 11.7 percent to $1.83 billion, compared to the last month, the report added.

The recent rebound has been partly due to the increased number of workdays in February. February this year had 3.5 more workdays, compared to last year, as the Korea’s the Lunar New Year holiday season took place in January this year.

Sales of memory chips also helped the nation’s exports recover, the ministry said. Korea’s shipments of semiconductor in February increased by 9.4 percent on-year to $7.4 billion, marking the first turnaround in 15 month. The recovery was largely due to improvements in DRAM prices in the recent two months. Memory chips accounted for some 18 percent of total exports, it added.

Other key export items that marked significant on-year increases included electronics (10.6 percent), automobile parts (10 percent) and wireless network products (8 percent).

The outbound shipment of automobiles, however, fell by 16.6 percent to $2.4 billion, largely as local carmakers had troubles in securing parts from China. The export of petrochemical goods too moved down 9.7 percent over the period to $3.14 billion.

By nation, Korea’s exports to China slipped by 6.6 percent to $8.9 billion in February, compared to that of February last year, while the exports to other nations increased.

Exports to the United States grew by 9.9 percent at $5.98 billion, while shipments to the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations increased by 7.5 percent at $7.9 billion. Outbound shipments to India and CIS nations also advanced by 14.7 percent at $1.3 billion and 12.2 percent at $1 billion, respectively.

In February, Korea’s imports grew by 1.4 percent on-year to reach at $37.1 billion in February this year, making the nation’s trade balance to reach at $4.1 billion.

Meanwhile, the nation’s export prospects in March, however, remain uncertain if the viral outbreak gets prolonged, the report added.

By Shim Woo-hyun (ws@heraldcorp.com)