South Korea February exports fall for fifth month, with pace easing on calendar effects

SEOUL  – South Korea’s exports fell in February for a fifth straight month in annual terms, trade ministry data showed on Wednesday, although at a slower pace than in January due mainly to calendar effects related to national holidays.

Outbound shipments from Asia’s fourth-largest economy fell 7.5 percent to $50.10 billion in February from a year earlier, whereas imports rose 3.6 percent to $55.40 billion. As a result, the country posted a monthly trade deficit of $5.30 billion.

Exports fell by a slower pace than a 16.6 percent drop in January mostly because there were two more working days in February this year than in the same month of 2022 due to the different timing of the Lunar New Year holidays. On average per working day, they dropped 15.9 percent.

In a Reuters survey, exports in February were forecast to be 8.7 percent less than a year earlier whereas imports were seen growing 4 percent from a year before.

Shipments to China, in their ninth month of decline, slumped 24.2 percent. Those to the United States and European Union rose 16.2 percent and 13.2 percent, respectively.

Semiconductor exports fell 42.5 percent, those of cars jumped 47.1 percent and petroleum product shipments rose 12 percent.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol last week convened a meeting of economy ministers and told them to do whatever they could to avert a widely expected decline in 2023 exports.

The government expects exports to fall 4.5 percent in 2023, following a 6.1- percent gain in 2022.