S. Korea saw third consecutive month of export growth in April despite U.S. tariffs

And despite widespread concerns South Korea's exports managed to stay in the black in April rising for the third month in a row.

Moon Ji-young covers this latest finding.

South Korea's exports grew for the third consecutive month in April, despite the impact of tariffs imposed by the U.S., although outbound shipments to the U.S. saw a drop.

According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Thursday,

the value of exports last month amounted to 58-point-2 billion U.S. dollars, up 3-point-7 percent compared to the previous year.

This marked the highest-ever for any April.

This growth comes as outbound shipments of semiconductors, the country's top export engine, surged by a whopping 17 percent on-year to reach 11-point-7 billion dollars.

This is the highest figure for any April, driven by strong demand for high-value memory semiconductors such as HBM and price increases of DDR4 DRAM chips.

Exports of wireless communications equipment, including smartphones, and exports of biohealth products also expanded by a large margin.

While exports of steel and ships both increased, shipments of automobiles, another key export item, dropped almost four percent year-on-year.

This decline was largely due to weaker demand for internal combustion engine cars and electric vehicles.

Regionally, exports to China rose nearly four percent on-year on strong demand for smartphones and semiconductors.

Exports to the European Union also surged by more than 18 percent, setting a new monthly record of 6-point-7 billion dollars.

In contrast, outbound shipments to the U.S. decreased almost 7 percent year on year, mainly due to a drop in automobile and machinery exports.

"High U.S. tariffs appear to have affected South Korea's exports to the U.S., though the degree of impact differs by sector"

In the midst of global trade uncertainties,

some experts highlight the need to increase local production in response to strengthening trade barriers, especially on chips.

"Rather than solely insisting on exports, pursuing a strategy of increasing local production, while potentially leading to short-term industrial hollowing-out, is a necessary long-term approach to advance our industrial structure."

Meanwhile, the country's imports decreased by 2-point-7 percent, driven by a drop in energy imports.

Moon Ji-young, Arirang News.