Seoul: South Korea’s exports recorded a surprising increase in October, supported by strong global demand for semiconductors and ships. The country’s export value rose by 3.6 percent compared to last year, reaching 59.57 billion dollars, outperforming market expectations of a slight decline.

According to the trade ministry, semiconductor exports jumped by 25.4 percent, continuing their strong growth as the demand for high-capacity memory chips such as HBM and DDR5 remained strong across global markets. Ship exports saw an even larger rise of more than 130 percent, reflecting a recovery in global demand for large vessels.

Petrochemical exports also improved, rising by 12.7 percent, while imports fell by 1.5 percent to 53.52 billion dollars. This led to a trade surplus of 6.06 billion do

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