S Korea's industrial parts export hit record high

South Korea's export of industrial parts and components hit a record half-year high in the first half of this year amid global economic recovery, a government report showed Tuesday.

South Korea exported 125.7 billion U.S. dollars of industrial parts and components for the first six months, up 15 percent from a year earlier, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said.

The record export was mainly attributable to global economic recovery and rising facilities investment in emerging markets, according to the ministry. Shipments of general machinery and chemical products led the export expansion by growing 31 percent and 29.7 percent on-year respectively.

Import of industrial parts and component from overseas reached 85.4 billion U.S. dollars during the January-June period, up 18.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the ministry. It was attributed to higher import prices stemming from rising commodity prices.

Trade surplus in the industrial parts sector posted a fresh record of 40.3 billion U.S. dollars in the first half, which more than doubled the surplus of 17.4 billion dollars for the nation's all industries.

By country, export to Japan jumped 35.1 percent on-year to 8.4 billion U.S. dollars in the first half, helped by the production disruption following the deadly earthquake on March 11, the ministry said.

Shipments to China grew 8.7 percent on-year to 43.4 billion U.S. dollars in the first half, with export to the U.S. jumping 11.8 percent to a record high of 10.6 billion dollars. Export to the European countries expanded 17 percent on-year to 15 billion dollars over the cited period.

Source:Xinhua

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