SEOUL, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- South Korea posted trade surplus for 16 straight months last month thanks to a double-digit growth in export, customs office data showed Wednesday.
The revised figure for trade surplus amounted to 1.6 billion U.S. dollars in August, staying in the black for 16 months since May last year, according to Korea Customs Service.
Export jumped 34.8 percent over the year to 53.2 billion dollars in August, while import soared 44.0 percent to 51.6 billion dollars.
The outbound shipment topped 50 billion dollars for the sixth consecutive month owing to global demand recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic shock.
Semiconductor export surged 41.5 percent in August from a year earlier, and those for oil products, cars, auto parts, and mobile devices advanced in double figures.
Shipment to China, South Korea's biggest trading partner, climbed 26.8 percent last month, and those to the United States, the European Union, Vietnam, Japan, and the Middle East all posted a double-digit increase.
Import of raw materials spiked 79.1 percent on a higher crude oil price, and those for consumer and capital goods expanded 16.3 percent and 21.6 percent each last month. Enditem
