SEOUL, July 19 (Xinhua) -- South Korea posted the biggest trade surplus of industrial parts and materials in the first half thanks to brisk exports, a government report showed Thursday.
Trade surplus in the industrial components and materials hit a record high of 67.5 billion U.S. dollars in the January-June period, up from 53.2 billion dollars in the same period of last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
Exports in the sector expanded 15.6 percent over the year to 155.6 billion dollars in the first half, while imports in industrial parts and materials gained 8.2 percent to 88.1 billion dollars.
Both exports and imports of the industrial components were the biggest ever recorded by the economy.
The parts and materials exports accounted for 52.3 percent of the total exports in all industries in the first half. The trade surplus in the sector more than doubled the total surplus of 32.4 billion dollars in all industries.
The first-half export was led by strong demand for locally-made semiconductors. Electronic parts exports, including chips, jumped 26.1 percent over the year to 66.4 billion dollars in the first half.
Chemical product shipment advanced 17 percent to 25.1 billion dollars, but the figure for transport machine parts declined 2.4 percent.
Exports to China, the United States and the European Union (EU) posted a double-digit increase, but those to the Middle East and Latin American countries declined in the first half.
