South Korea’s exports rise

SEOUL: Stronger global demand for memory chips and petrochemicals helped fuel an 8.7 percent increase in South Korea´s exports in August, marking a second straight month of gains amid escalating trade tension between China and the United States.

The rate of growth was somewhat less than expected, however. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a 10.1 percent gain from a year earlier. Exports stood at $51.2 billion, slightly below July´s $51.9 billion, government data showed on Saturday.

Imports rose 9.2 percent to $44.3 billion, beating forecasts for a 7.7 percent increase. That produced a provisional trade surplus of $6.9 billion, little changed from July.

Yoon Jong-won, a top presidential aide on economic affairs, said on Thursday that South Korea´s exports will continue to grow at a solid pace for a while, as exporters will benefit from an uptick in shipments of petrochemicals, memory chips, and robots, as well as renewable energy products.

Economists say trade tensions between the U.S. and China have not yet dealt a serious blow to South Korean economy, though risks are mounting as President Donald Trump threatens to impose even more sweeping tariffs on Chinese goods within weeks. "The Sino-U.S. trade war didn´t seem to have had an impact in South Korea´s August exports.

Rather, a weaker won and robust U.S. economy boosted demand for South Korean goods," said Lee Sang-jae, an economist at Eugene Securities.