SEOUL, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's trade surplus in industrial parts and materials topped 100 billion U.S. dollars for the first time in the January-September period, a government report showed Thursday.
Export of industrial components and materials gained 13.6 percent over the year to 237.9 billion dollars for the first nine months of this year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
Import rose 5.1 percent to 131.8 billion dollars, sending the trade surplus in the sector to 106.1 billion dollars.
It was the first time that the trade surplus of industrial parts and materials surpassed 100 billion dollars in the cited period.
Export of the industrial parts and materials accounted for 52.8 percent of the export in all industries.
Electronic parts export jumped 24.7 percent over the year to 104.6 billion dollars in the January-September period.
Chemical product export advanced 13.3 percent to 37.5 billion dollars, while the primary metal shipment grew 12.6 percent to 21.4 billion dollars.
Export to China, South Korea's biggest trading partner, picked up 20 percent over the year to 76.3 billion dollars in the nine-month period.
Shipment to Europe gained 14.8 percent to 27.9 billion dollars, and the export to Southeast Asian nations amounted to 38.8 billion dollars.
