South Korea’s exports of materials and parts for the first nine months of the year have posted a new high.
 
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on Tuesday that the nation’s exports of parts and materials grew 12-and-a-half percent year-on-year between January and September to stand at nearly 209 billion dollars.
 
During that same period, imports climbed roughly eleven percent to some 125 billion dollars. As a result, the trade surplus came to 83-and-a-half billion dollars, or up nearly eleven billion dollars.
 
The latest exports and trade surplus figures are the highest to be posted for the January to September period.
 
Exports of materials and parts for the third quarter posted a quarterly high after standing at 74-point-seven billion dollars.
 
The ministry said that brisk exports of electronic parts and chemical products boosted overall exports of parts and materials during the January to September period.
 
It said the nation’s dependency on certain countries in terms of exports is easing as shipments to China and the U.S. are decreasing while exports to Europe and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are surging.