South Korea's parts, material exports hit new high in H1

South Korea's exports of parts and materials hit a new high in the first half of this year, accounting for nearly half of the total exports, a government report showed Thursday. Exports in the industrial parts and material sector reached a record high of 130 billion U.S. dollars for the first six months of this year, up 5.2 percent from the same period of last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE). The figure accounted for 47 percent of exports for all industries, indicating that the country heavily depends on the sector for export growth. Shipments of electronic parts and electrical machinery components jumped 12.8 percent and 17.9 percent each in the first half from a year earlier, with those for transport machinery parts rising 4.2 percent. Exports of primary steel products and textile goods declined 15. 4 percent and 0.8 percent respectively. Trade surplus in the sector came to a new high of 48.3 billion dollars during the January-June period, more than doubling the surplus of 19.6 billion dollars for all industries. Lower dependence on Japan for imports of parts and material contributed to the record surplus in the sector. The ratio of parts imported from Japan decreased to 21 percent of the total in the first half from 23 percent in 2012 and 25.2 percent in 2010.