By Kwanwoo Jun
South Korea posted a decline in exports for the 10th consecutive month in July on sluggish global demand but maintained a trade surplus, largely on a plunge in imports.
Exports fell 16.5% from a year earlier to $50.33 billion, following a 6.0% drop in June, according to preliminary data released by the country’s trade ministry on Tuesday. The median market forecast had been for a 14.5% contraction in July.
Imports dropped 25.4% from a year earlier, to $48.71 billion in July, resulting in a trade surplus of $1.63 billion–a second straight month of the trade balance being in the black. The country ended its 15-month stretch of trade deficits in June.
The weaker-than-expected July data for South Korea, a bellwether for the health of global trade, suggests a slow recovery in demand and world commerce.
Shipments of semiconductors and petroleum products fell 34% and 42%, respectively, from a year earlier in July, the trade data showed. Those of petrochemicals and steel products also dropped 25% and 10%, respectively.
Exports to China, the country’s largest trade partner, continued to fall in July, the data showed.
Write to Kwanwoo Jun at kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com
This story originally appeared on Marketwatch
