South Korea’s current account surplus widened sharply in March from the previous month, backed by strong auto and petrochemical exports, the central bank said Friday.

The current account surplus reached $3.04 billion last month, up from $560 million in the black tallied in the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea. The figure is larger than the $1.33 billion surplus tallied a year earlier.

Asia’s fourth-largest economy logged a surplus of $3 billion in goods trade, fueled by strong overseas demand for locally made products and decreased commodity imports. This is much higher than the $1.31 billion surplus reported in February and $2.75 billion reached in March 2011.

Exports stood at $47.42 billion, up from $45.86 billion in February, on steady demand from the United States and countries in the Middle East. Outbound shipment growth to Southeast Asia and Japan slowed, while exports to the European Union, China and Latin America contracted.

“Car and refined petroleum exports led growth, that helped offset losses in ships and electronics,” the bank said in a press release.

The BOK said imports declined to $44.42 billion in March from $44.55 billion in the previous month as the country curbed crude oil, natural gas and various capital goods purchases.

The country’s service sector account was in the black by $700 million last month thanks to more travelers coming into the country and profits generated through intellectual property rights. This is a rebound from a deficit of $1.22 billion in the previous month.

The capital and financial account, covering cross-border investments, posted a net outflow of $1.63 billion in March. This is greater than the outflow of $960 million in the previous month.

For the first quarter, the country’s current account surplus reached $2.63 billion, slightly larger than $2.61 billion posted in the first three months of last year.

In the cited period, goods exports reached $134.66 billion with imports hitting $131.98 billion for a surplus of $2.69 billion. The service sector posted a deficit of $650 million while capital and financial account outflow hit a net $1.27 billion, according to the BOK. 

(Yonhap News)