Despite experts predicting the long Chuseok holiday earlier this month would put a damper on Korea’s export figures, exports have surged nearly 7 percent compared to last year, according to data from the Korea Customs Service.

Following the 10-day holiday from Sept. 30 to Oct. 9, government data on Sunday showed that exports from Oct. 1 to 20 amounted to $26.7 billion, an increase of 6.9 percent compared to the same period last year. It marked the eleventh consecutive month of increased exports.

In particular, semiconductor exports shot up 80.8 percent, while shipping vessel exports jumped 118.5 percent amid growing global demand. 

According to the customs agency, the export industry is typically affected by the number of working days. If the number of working days is reduced by a single day, the total export amount is reduced by an average of 0.05 percent per month. However, Korea’s average daily export value during the cited period from Oct. 1 to 20 was $ 2.67 billion, surging 55.1 percent year-on-year and offsetting the decreased number of working days.

Total exports for the entire month are likely to increase by a double digit margin from last year, the data suggested.

Exports to Vietnam accounted for 27.3 percent of total exports, followed by the EU at 13.9 percent and China at 10.8 percent. In contrast, exports to the United States and Japan fell by 21.9 percent and 18.1 percent, respectively. 

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)