Exports rose 16.7 per cent in the first 20 days of February from a year earlier to $30.4 billion, according to data released by South Korea's customs office on Monday. Taking into account the fact that the number of working days is 1.5 days less than that of the same period last year, the average daily export volume increased by 29.2% compared with the same period last year.

Excluding the number of days under construction, semiconductor exports increased by 27.5%, automobile exports increased by 45.9%, while petrochemical exports fell 5.7% and computer peripherals fell 4.8%.

By export destination, exports to China increased by 32.7% year-on-year, to the United States by 14%, to Europe by 53.6%, to Vietnam by 10.9%, to Japan by 6.5%, while exports to the Middle East fell by 31.3% and to Singapore by 21%.

Imports in the first 20 days of February were US $31.6 billion, an increase of 24.1% over the same period last year. Excluding the number of days under construction, imports of semiconductors increased by 10.3%, natural gas imports by 59.6%, crude oil imports by 17.8% and petrochemical products by 13.3%. Imports from China increased by 95.6% year-on-year, imports from the United States increased by 6.9%, imports from Japan increased by 17.2%, imports from Europe increased by 6.5%, while imports from the Middle East fell by 8%.