Exports rose about four percent on-year in the first 20 days of August, but the trade deficit also increased sharply.
 
According to tentative data from the Korea Customs Service on Monday, the country’s outbound shipments stood at 33-point-four billion U.S. dollars in the cited period, up three-point-nine percent from a year earlier.
 
Average daily exports rose by zero-point-five percent, with the number of working days increasing by a half day from last year to 15-point-five.
 
Shipments of petroleum products and autos jumped 109 percent and 22 percent, while exports of semiconductors and wireless communication devices slipped seven-point-five percent and 24-point-six percent, respectively.
 
Exports to the United States and the European Union increased zero-point-eight percent and 19-point-eight, respectively, while outbound commodities to China and Japan dropped eleven-point-two percent and six-point-three percent each.
 
Imports rose 22-point-one percent on-year to 43-point-six billion dollars during the cited period. 
 
The nation posted a trade deficit of ten-point-21 billion dollars during the first 20 days of August. The deficit was larger than the shortfall of three-point-six billion dollars logged a year earlier, as well as a deficit of seven-point-67 billion dollars tallied in the first ten days of this month.