Trade surplus comes from ＂cargo effect＂ in first half

The trade surplus in the first half this year was accounted for by increasing exports and decreasing imports, said the Bank of Korea (BOK).

According to the BOK on August 27, exports in the first six months this year increased by 7.2% over the same period of last year. However, export amounts dropped to 78.57 billion dollars, decreasing by 4.11 billion dollars over the course of the last year due to export prices falling by 12.2%. In this case, the export reduction due to price falls (equivalent to 10.9 billion dollars) was bigger than export growth due to cargo increases (equivalent to 6.85 billion dollars).

On the other hand, import prices in the first half fell by 4.4% and cargo amounts also decreased by 2.9%, resulting in 72.53 billion dollars, a decrease of 6.11 billion dollars compared to the same period of last year.

As a result, the trade surplus marked 6.04 billion dollars, an increase of 2 billion dollars over last year.

The BOK stressed that trade surpluses could favorably continue in the second half this year. A source at the BOK said, "Improving competitiveness such as in technical development and facility investment could lead to favorable trading conditions."