South Korea’s exports reached $33.5 billion in the first 10 days of November, up 111.9% from a year earlier and the highest figure for that period on record. Semiconductors drove the increase, with exports of $16.6 billion, a 331.2% rise that accounted for 49.7% of the total, while imports rose 45% to $24.7 billion and produced an $8.8 billion trade surplus.
The figures are an early-month snapshot affected by a 0.5-day difference in operating days, and the country had $963.7 billion in cumulative exports, leaving $36.3 billion to reach the government’s annual $1 trillion target.