South Korean exports fall in October following weak global demand, production halt at Samsung

Exports in South Korea fell during the month of October, following weakness in overseas demand amid large production halt at Samsung, owing to the recalling of its signature product, Galaxy Note 7 after explosions of the phone at many places.

South Korea’s exports fell 3.2 percent on-year to USD42 billion last month, while imports retreated 4.8 percent to USD35 billion. Asia's fourth-largest economy has posted negative growth in its outbound shipments for 21 months in the recent 22 months since January last year amid contracted demand at home and abroad.

The country logged a trade surplus for 57 straight months in October as imports fell at a faster pace than exports, customs data showed Tuesday. Trade surplus came to USD6.97 billion last month, up 5.7 percent from USD6.59 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service.

For the January-October period, the surplus edged up 2.2 percent on-year to USD74.7 billion from USD73.1 billion. The on-year gain in trade surplus was led by a steep decline in imports that outpaced a fall in exports in October.