South Korea's exports fell for the ninth consecutive month in August amid Japan's export curbs against Seoul and an intensifying trade dispute between the United States and China.

According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Sunday, the nation's outbound shipments plunged 13-point-six percent last month from a year earlier to 44-point-two billion dollars.

Exports contracted for nine straight months since December last year when they shrank one-point-seven percent.

The ministry said exports of chips, a key export item for the country, plunged 30-point-seven percent in August from a year earlier on low prices of memory chips.

Outbound shipments of petrochemical products and petroleum products also slipped 19-point-two percent and 14 percent, respectively amid global uncertainties.

The ministry, said, however, that as there are no cases in which Japan's export restrictions of three high-tech materials disrupted the production of goods in South Korea, the curb had a limited impact on South Korea's overall exports.

Imports fell four-point-two percent and the trade surplus came to one-point-seven billion dollars in August, marking 91 straight months in which exports have exceeded imports.