S. Korea's export rises 3.8 pct in 10 days of September

SEOUL, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's export rose in single digits in the first 10 days of September due to more business days, customs office data showed Thursday.

Export stood at 19.17 billion U.S. dollars in the Sept. 1-10 period, up 3.8 percent compared to the same period of last year, according to Korea Customs Service.

It was attributable to an expansion in working days, which gained by one day in the cited period. The daily average export declined 8.4 percent to 2.26 billion dollars in the 10-day period.

Semiconductor export surged 28.4 percent to 4.46 billion dollars, but automotive shipment slumped 1.9 percent to 1.55 billion dollars.

Export for ships soared 55.3 percent to 900 million dollars, but those for steel and oil products shrank to 1.24 billion dollars and 1.17 billion dollars each.

Import jumped 11.1 percent from a year earlier to 20.39 billion dollars in the first 10 days of September, sending the trade deficit to 1.22 billion dollars.

Import for natural gas, coal, oil products, machinery, semiconductor equipment, precision machinery, mobile devices and cars recorded a double-digit increase in the cited period. Enditem