For the first three months of the year, secondary battery exports continued to post solid gains, soaring 22.9 percent on-year to $1.24 billion.

Exports of South Korea-made lithium-ion batteries, ed for smartphones and tablets, jumped 14.7 percent on-year to $2.33 billion last year, accounting for 52.9 percent of the total shipments.

By country, China was the biggest buyer of South Korean secondary cell batteries, purchasing $830 million last year, taking up 18.9 percent of the total exports, followed by Germany with $544 million and the United States with $524 million.

But the percentage of exports to China has been on a steady decline since they reached 43.3 percent in 2012, as the world's second-largest economy has been making efforts to expand production facilities for rechargeable batteries on its soil, the KTS said.

"Brisk demand for electric vehicles and next-generation energy storage systems are phing up exports of South Korean secondary batteries," the ctoms agency said. "This upward trend is expected to continue for the time being." (Yonhap)