South Korea's trade surplus widened in June from the previous month, though imports continued to grow at a much faster rate than exports, the government said Friday.

   The country's trade surplus came to US$3.3 billion last month, compared with a surplus of $2.75 billion in May, according to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy. The figure, however, marks a large drop from $7.47 billion for the same period last year.

   Exports rose 14.5 percent from a year earlier to $48.2 billion in June with imports jumping 27.4 percent on-year to $44.9 billion. The June trade surplus grew from May as exports rose from $47.6 billion during the month while imports shrank from $45.4 billion.

   "The country's trade surplus increased in June from the previous month mainly due to a drop in energy import bills amid a continued strong gain in its key exports," the ministry said in a press release.

   The country's total energy imports dropped to $8.59 billion from $8.61 billion in May though its imports of petroleum jumped 62.3 percent amid the country's increasing exports of petroleum products, which jumped 57.5 percent on-year in June, according to the ministry.

   Overseas shipments of petrochemical products also rose 23.2 percent from a year earlier with automobile exports rising 17.5 percent on-year.

   In the first half of the year, South Korean exports rose 24.4 percent on-year to $275.4 billion and imports gained 26.6 percent to $258 billion for a $17.4 billion trade surplus.

   The gain in exports was largely led by petroleum products, whose overseas shipments jumped 71.8 percent on-year to $24.48 billion in the January-June period, an apparent effect of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan that seriously damaged production facilities of Japanese producers.

   Exports of eight other industries, including steel, shipbuilding and automobile industries, also jumped more than 20 percent in the first half of the year, according to the ministry.

   Exports of semiconductors, on the other hand, gained a mere 3.9 percent on-year to $24.55 billion as global prices of semiconductors fell significantly from last year. The average price of dynamic random access memory or DRAM chips was more than halved from $2.86 in the first half of 2010 to $1.07.

   A ministry official said the country's exports and imports will likely grow at a slower rate in the second half of the year.

   "Exports in the latter half of the year are expected to somewhat shrink (from those of the first half) as many uncertainties, such as a slowdown of the U.S. economy and China's possible pursuit of a contractionary fiscal policy, still remain in the market," Han Jin-hyun, director of trade-investment policies, told a press briefing.

   Still, the ministry said the country's annual two-way trade volume will reach over $1 trillion for the first time in history this year.

   It said the country's exports for the entire year are expected to grow 19.4 percent on-year to $557 billion with its imports growing 24.2 percent to $528 billion.

Source: Yonhap News (July 1, 2011)