February trade surplus of $7.6 billion set a new record high

February trade surplus of $7.6 billion set a new record high. March. 02, 2015 13:39. January@donga.com.

Korea’s exports and imports both dropped in February for two consecutive months compared to the same period a year earlier. Korea’s outbound shipments (based on the customs clearance) recorded 41.456 billion U.S. dollars, which is a 3.4 percent decrease year-on-year, while the imports plunged by 19.6 percent to 33.799 billion dollars.

The ministry’s official said, “The number of work days in February has been reduced due to the Lunar New Year holiday, and the falling oil prices also negatively affected the import and export prices of petrochemical and petroleum products, which also contributed to fall in inbound and outbound shipments.” According to the "Trend of exports and imports in February" released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Sunday, the average amount of export per day in February (based on work days) has increased by 9.4 percent from the previous year and the export volume of petroleum products (gasoline, diesel, etc.) has gone up by 3.8 percent.

Per export item, automotive (- 16.3 percent) plunged due to reduction in exports to Russia, and home appliances (-23.3 percent) and textiles (-20.8 percent) also dropped. Ship building (127.2 percent) showed positive movement thanks to increase in the offshore plant exports.

Meanwhile, trade balance in February recorded 7.658 billion dollars in surplus, setting a new monthly record high, and continued surpluses in 37 months consecutively since February 2012.