Korea’s trade surplus shrank sharply in May from the previous month as imports grew at a faster clip than exports due to high international energy prices, a government report showed Wednesday.

The country’s trade surplus reached $2.75 billion in May, compared with a $5.14 billion surplus in April, according to the report by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy. Exports rose 23.5 percent on-year to $48.01 billion, with imports increasing 29.9 percent to $45.26 billion.

Last month’s overseas shipments were down from $49.15 billion in April, while imports rose from $44.01 billion. May marked the 16th straight month that the country’s trade balance has been in the black.

“The decline in the country’s trade surplus can be attributed to less working days last month compared to the year before that adversely affected exports and increased bills for importing crude oil, gas and petroleum products,” Han Jin-hyun, an official at the ministry, said.

He said outbound shipments of refined petroleum products surged 87 percent on-year in May, followed by a 33.9 percent increase in telecommunication exports. Exports of steel, petrochemicals, autos and ships all grew more than 20 percent last month.

In contrast, overseas shipments of semiconductors contracted 5.3 percent, mainly because of weaker computer chip prices, the official said.

Imports, meanwhile, rose sharply as prices of raw energy resources such as crude oil, coal and natural gas spiked. Crude oil imports shot up 37.4 percent last month from a year earlier, with imports of coal and gas increasing 65.5 percent and 27.4 percent, respectively.

Consumer product imports rose 22.8 percent while local demand for foreign capital goods moved up 16.8 percent.

In the first five months of this year, South Korea posted a trade surplus of $15.75 billion with exports surging 27.4 percent to $228.47 billion and imports rising 26.2 percent to $212.72 billion.

Seoul originally forecast that the country’s exports will reach $513 billion this year with its trade surplus hovering around $25 billion.

The ministry predicted that while imports will likely continue to rise in June, exports are expected to fare well, helping the country maintain a trade surplus. It added that the size of the country’s trade surplus may decline further in the second half of 2011 with the appreciation of the Korean won against the U.S. dollar. 

(Yonhap News)