South Korea's exports of information and communication technology products dropped slightly in March from a year earlier due partly to a plunge in shipments of key products, including smartphones, the government said Thursday.
  

Outbound shipments of ICT products came to $14.46 billion last month, down 3.4 percent from the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
  

Imports, on the other hand, gained 2.1 percent on-year to $7.61 billion. The country's trade surplus in the ICT sector dropped 8.9 percent to $6.85 billion.
  

The drop in exports was partly attributed to a large cut in outbound shipments of mobile phones, apparently reflecting growing competition from foreign manufacturers.
  

In March, exports of smartphones plunged 40.2 percent on-year to $710 million while overall shipments of mobile phones, including smartphones, dropped 10 percent to $2.15 billion, the ministry said in a press release.
  

March marked the seventh consecutive month of an on-year drop in exports of smartphones.
  

Shipments of semiconductors, on the other hand, continued to grow for the 10th consecutive month, gaining 2.9 percent on-year to $5.39 billion last month.
  

Exports of display panels dropped 9.5 percent on-year to $2.16 billion, mostly due to a rise in overseas production by local manufacturers, the ministry said.
  

By region, shipments to China, the world's single largest market for South Korean products, gained 1.7 percent on-year to $7.51 billion with exports to the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations growing 2.9 percent to $2.14 billion.
  

Shipments to the United States plunged 11.7 percent on-year to $1.3 billion while shipments to the European Union tumbled 30.6 percent to $840 million. (Yonhap)