South Korea's exports up 39.7 in June, recording its best for the month

South Korea's total volume of exports last month came in at $54.8 billion, up 39.7 percent from a year earlier, recording the country's best June ever in terms of export performance.

It was also the third-best performance for any month of a year.

The June results pushed South Korea's overseas shipments to $303.24 billion in the first half of 2021, a 26.1 percent increase from the first half of 2020.

The figures represent the country's best first-half performance recorded since it started collecting monthly trade data.

Minister Moon Seung-wook noted that in attaining the country's best first-half performance, their growth was measured not just in quantities, but also in quality as their export products attained greater competitiveness.

It was the first time since January 2011 that all of South Korea's 15 items and nine markets exhibited growth.

Overseas shipments of the country's No. 1 export item, chips, reached $11.16 billion, which was a record for June.

Petrochemicals and general machinery soared 68.5 percent and 21.5 percent to set new June record highs.

Exports to China, the US, the EU, and Southeast Asia, which were among South Korea's main markets, all made advances.

Imports surged 40.7 percent to $50.3 billion in June, putting South Korea's trade balance for the month at a surplus of $4.4 billion.

The state-run Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency had also released a new projection for the country’s exports for 2021, saying it would reach a record high of up to $610 billion, gaining around 19 percent from 2020.