Exports rose nearly six percent year-on-year in the first 20 days of November.

According to preliminary data from the Korea Customs Service on Thursday, the country’s outbound shipments reached 35-point-61 billion U.S. dollars during the cited period, up five-point-eight percent from a year earlier.

The number of working days was the same as last year, 15-and-a-half days.  

Exports of semiconductors and ships jumped 42-point-five percent and 77 percent, respectively, while shipments of automobiles slipped more than ten percent.

Exports to China increased three-point-five percent, while shipments to the United States fell two-and-a-half percent.

Imports dropped one percent year-on-year to 34-point-eight billion dollars during the period, resulting in a trade surplus of 798 million dollars.