South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy says exports have declined for a second consecutive month. 

Last month’s outbound shipments slid by five-point-eight percent from January of last year to 46-point-35 billion U.S. dollars. 

Following a one-point-two percent on-year drop in December, it marks the first time the monthly exports fell back-to-back in two months since September and October of 2016. 

The volume of exports rose eight-point-four percent from a year earlier, but the price of export items fell by 13-point-one percent. 

Nine out of 13 backbone industries in South Korea's export-oriented economy posted declines led by semiconductor contraction by 23-point-three percent. 

Trade balance, however, stood at one-point-34 billion dollars in surplus, extending a rally of surplus to 84 months, although the margin significantly dropped from a monthly average of five-point-nine billion dollars last year.