Exports increased about two percent on-year in the first 20 days of November.

According to preliminary data from the Korea Customs Service on Tuesday, the country’s outbound shipments marked 33-point-79 billion dollars in the cited period, up two-point-two percent on-year.

Average daily exports also increased by two-point-two percent, with the number of working days the same as last year at 15 and a half.

Exports rebounded to a surplus for the first time in 13 months last month after declining for a year, with semiconductor exports increasing two-point-four percent on-year during the 20-day period for the first uptick in 14 months since September of last year.

Outbound shipments to the U.S. and Japan increased 15-point-seven percent and ten-point-eight percent each, while exports to China and the European Union decreased two-point-four percent and four-point-one percent, respectively.

Imports decreased six-point-two percent on-year to 35-point-26 billion dollars during the same period, resulting in a trade deficit of one-point-41 billion dollars, lower than the three-point-74- billion-dollar shortfall logged a month earlier.