Korea's biggest port in Busan / Yonhap

Korea's exports snapped their 15 straight months of annual increases in January due to a reduced number of business days from the extended Lunar New Year holiday, data showed Saturday.

Outbound shipments fell 10.3 percent from a year earlier to $49.1 billion last month, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Imports fell 6.4 percent year-on-year to $51 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of $1.89 billion, logging the first deficit in 20 months.

By sector, exports of semiconductors climbed 8.1 percent to hit $10.1 billion, marking the second-highest amount for any January. It was also the ninth consecutive month for chip exports to surpass the $10 billion mark.

The ministry attributed the strong performance to robust demand for premium products, such as high bandwidth memory chips and DDR-based memory, sparked by a global expansion of investment in data centers and artificial intelligence.

Outbound shipments of computers, including solid state drives, also advanced 14.8 percent to $800 million, rising for the 13th straight month.

Exports of automobiles, on the other hand, tumbled 19.6 percent to $5 billion as production was highly affected by the long holiday and a decrease in demand for diesel and electric vehicles.

Petroleum product shipments slid 29.8 percent to $3.4 billion due to lower crude prices and a fire at a major production facility in late December affecting exports.

Petrochemical product shipments pulled back 12.8 percent to $3.5 billion.

Outbound shipments of ships declined 2.1 percent to $2.5 billion as exports were concentrated on low-cost tankers.

The secondary battery industry logged an 11.6 percent decrease to $1.2 billion.

By destination, exports to China slipped 14.1 percent year-on-year to $9.2 billion due to lower demand for machinery, petroleum products and displays, the data showed.

Exports to the United States fell 9.4 percent to $9.3 billion on a decrease in automobile and machinery shipments.

Outbound shipments to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) edged down 2.1 percent to $8.6 billion, and exports to the European Union shrank 11.7 percent to $5 billion.

"Exports temporarily slowed down in January due to the reduced number of business days as a result of the long Lunar New Year holiday," Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun said.

"The country's export momentum is still holding up considering that Korea's daily average exports increased 7.7 percent year-on-year and having seen growth in major sectors and markets," he added.

Ahn also said his ministry will closely monitor shifts in the U.S. trade policies under the Donald Trump administration, vowing to support exports amid heightened economic uncertainties. (Yonhap)