South Korea's exports of industrial parts, materials reach new high

South Korea's exports of industrial parts and materials reached a record high in the first nine months of the year with the country's trade surplus in the sector expected to top US$100 billion for the first time in its history this year, the government said Wednesday.
In the January-September period, outbound shipments of industrial parts and materials came to $203.3 billion, up 4.1 percent from the same period last year, South Korean Yonhap news agency quoted the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy as saying.
The amount also accounts for 48 percent of the country's overall exports over the cited period.
"Exports continued to grow at a steady pace as shipments to advanced countries, such as Europe, the United States and Japan, rose while those to China also expand," the ministry said in a press release.
The country's trade surplus in the industrial parts sector came to $77.9 billion in the first nine months of the year while the country's overall trade surplus came to $29.1 billion over the same period, meaning the industrial parts sector helped more than offset losses by other sectors.
The country's imports of industrial parts and materials gained 2.2 percent on-year to $125.4 billion in the first nine months of the year.