SEOUL, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's export kept falling for the first 20 days of this month amid the continued downturn of the global chip industry, customs office data showed Thursday.
Export, which takes up about half of the export-driven economy, was 28.2 billion U.S. dollars during the November 1-20 period, down 9.6 percent from the same period of last year, according to the Korea Customs Service.
Chip export tumbled 23.6 percent as the downturn in business cycle of the global semiconductor industry continued for the past year.
Ship export plunged 65.3 percent, but shipments for automobile and electronic products expanded 7.1 percent and 8.7 percent each in the 20-day period.
Exports to China and the European Union reduced 8.1 percent and 25.3 percent each in the period, but those to the United States and the Middle East grew 0.5 percent and 14.4 percent respectively.
Import declined 11.2 percent to 27.6 billion U.S. dollars in the period, sending the trade surplus to 0.6 billion U.S. dollars.
