SEOUL, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's export posted a double-digit fall in July, continuing to decline for the eighth consecutive month on lower price for semiconductors and oil products, a government report showed Thursday.
Export, which accounts for about half of the South Korean economy, amounted to 46.14 billion U.S. dollars in July, down 11 percent from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
The outbound shipment continued to slide for eight straight months since December last year on the global trade dispute and the downturn in business cycle of the global semiconductor industry.
Adding to the concern, Japan tightened regulations early last month on its export to South Korea of materials vital to produce memory chips and display panels.
Japan allegedly planned to remove South Korea later this week from its whitelist of preferent procedures for export, a move estimated to have a negative impact on more than 1,000 items in trade between the two countries.
Import shed 2.7 percent over the year to 43.7 billion U.S. dollars in July, sending the trade surplus to 2.44 billion U.S. dollars. The trade balance stayed in the black for 90 months in a row.
The trade ministry said Japan's export curbs had a "limited" impact on trade between Seoul and Tokyo.
South Korea's export to Japan edged down 0.3 percent in July from a year earlier. During the January-June period, South Korea's shipment to Japan declined 6.0 percent compared with the same period of last year.
South Korea's import from Japan contracted 9.4 percent in July from a year ago on weak demand for materials and components. The country's trade deficit with Japan amounted to 1.62 billion U.S. dollars last month.
South Korea continued to record a trade deficit with Japan for 54 straight years since Seoul and Tokyo normalized diplomatic relations in 1965, following the 1910-1945 Japanese colonization of the Korean Peninsula, the ministry said.
South Korea's trade deficit with Japan was 24.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2018. For the past 54 years, the deficit amounted to 604.5 billion U.S. dollars, but the deficit kept sliding, the Seoul ministry said.
By product, semiconductor export tumbled 28.1 percent in July from a year earlier on lower product price, caused by the global chip sector's downturn.
Export for oil products and petrochemicals logged a double-digit contraction amid a cheaper crude oil. Steel export plunged 2.17 percent as global weak demand led to a price fall.
Automobile export advanced 21.6 percent, keeping an upward trend for the fourth consecutive month on demand for sport utility vehicle (SUV) and environmentally-friendly vehicles.
Auto parts shipment gained 1.9 percent, marking the first turnaround in six months. Consumer electronics shipment also rebounded in nine months.
Cosmetics export rose in four months, and farm goods shipment grew 8.7 percent. Shipment in the bio healthcare industry kept a double-digit increase last month.
Export to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) inched up 0.5 percent, and shipment to the European Union (EU) added 0.3 percent, marking the first expansion in five months.
Shipment to China, South Korea's biggest trading partner, tumbled 16.3 percent in the month, continuing to slide for the ninth straight month on weak demand for chips, display panels and petrochemicals.
Export to the Latin American countries dropped 23.6 percent on lower demand for steel, display panels, automobiles and petrochemicals.
