Korea's exports to face more jitters on COVID-19 pandemic: finance minister

SEOUL, April 1 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's exports may face headwinds down the road due to the economic fallout from the new coronavirus pandemic, the finance minister said Wednesday.

"In March, South Korea's outbound shipments are considered to have faced less-than-expected jitters given the current bad conditions, helped by the increased number of working days and improved shipments of chips," Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said during a meeting with economy-related ministers.

Outbound shipments rose 10 percent in the first 20 days of March from a year earlier despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

The country's outbound shipments came to US$30.7 billion in the March 1-20 period, rising from $27.9 billion in the same period a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Korea Customs Service last month.

The daily average for the period, however, slipped 0.4 percent on-year. The customs office noted the number of working days over the cited period came to 16 this year, compared with 14.5 last year.

The figure also slowed from the first 10 days of the month, when the country's exports expanded 20 percent, indicating exports have faced greater economic fallout from the pandemic more recently.

By segment, exports of chips advanced 20.3 percent over the period, and those of automobiles increased 13.7 percent.

colin@yna.co.kr
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