S. Korea's trade surplus hits record US$4.6 bln in March

By Lee Joon-seung

SEOUL, April 1 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's trade surplus reached a record US$4.6 billion in March mainly due to a sharp drop in imports and a surge in exports of ships, a government report showed Wednesday.

The country's exports reached $28.3 billion last month, falling 21.2 percent
on-year, with imports plummeting 36 percent to $23.7 billion, according to the
Ministry of Knowledge Economy.
The monthly surplus surpassed the previous record of $3.8 billion tallied for
April 1998 when the country struggled to cope with the Asian financial crisis by
cutting back on spending.
The ministry said ship sales continued to help exports. Favorable exchange rates,
more working days and efforts to increase trade-related financing helped increase
outbound shipments compared to the previous month.
"Export volume grew $2.9 billion last month compared to February, while imports
only gained $1.2 billion as prices for weak crude oil and natural resources
curbed payment related costs," Kang Myung-soo, the head of the ministry's
export-import division, said.
He added two more working days and the exchange rate, which reached 1,453 won to
the U.S. dollar last month compared to 1,000 won to the greenback in March 2008,
contributed to the favorable balance of trade.
The ministry expected that South Korea's export volume will continue to post
negative growth on an annual basis at least into the third quarter, although the
balance of trade will remain firmly in the black.
For the first three months of this year, the country's trade surplus reached $3.9
billion, a sharp gain from a deficit of $6.6 billion tallied for the first
quarter of 2008.