SEOUL, June 11 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's exports surged in double digits in the first 10 days of June due to soaring demand for locally-made semiconductors, customs office data showed Thursday.
The outbound shipment totaled 28.63 billion U.S. dollars in the June 1 to 10 period, up 85.9 percent compared with the same period of last year, according to the Korea Customs Service.
It marked an all-time high for the cited period, surpassing the previous record of 25.2 billion dollars set in April.
The daily average export jumped 46.1 percent to 4.09 billion dollars in the 10-day period.
Semiconductor exports spiked 205.8 percent to 11.07 billion dollars on strong demand for chips used in artificial intelligence (AI).
Shipments for computers and peripherals skyrocketed 259.4 percent to 928 million dollars, thanks to strong demand for solid-state drives, driven by an expanded demand for AI infrastructure.
Exports for oil products, automobiles, ships, auto parts, mobile devices, precision machinery and home appliances advanced in double figures.
The Asian country's imports grew 35.6 percent from a year earlier to 23.35 billion dollars in the first 10 days of June, sending the trade surplus to 5.28 billion dollars.
Imports for chips, crude oil, semiconductor equipment, machinery, natural gas, oil products, cars and mobile devices all posted a double-digit growth in the cited period.
