South Korea's outbound shipments, a main growth engine for Asia's fourth-largest economy, are likely to remain weak into the third quarter largely due to slowing growth in China and unfavorable currency circumstances, a central bank report forecast Wednesday.

"A fall in prices of key export products, weakening price competitiveness stemming from a weakening yen and euro as well as slowing growth in China are likely to limit export growth," the report by the Bank of Korea said.

The regional economic report, however, said that increased sales of mobile devices and a lineup of new cars waiting for release in the second half may help boost exports.

South Korea's exports shrank for the fourth consecutive month in April due to a cut in oil prices, which in turn, has significantly reduced the price of petroleum and petrochemical products, South Korea's key export items.

The country's overall outbound shipments came to US$46.22 billion last month, down 8.1 percent from the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The BOK report comes as sluggish exports are feared to hamper growth in the heavily trade-reliant Korean economy.

On Tuesday, BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol voiced concern over such a trend, saying exports are unlikely to rebound for the time being due to "factors that cannot be resolved in the short term."

In addition to external factors, the central bank chief pointed out that the country's portion of exports to nominal gross domestic product, 43 percent, is too high compared with the 10 percent-level in advanced economies.

Overall, the central bank noted that economic recovery is intact going forward.

"The monitoring results showed that the local economy was slightly better in April and May compared with the first quarter," the report said, citing improved consumption and construction investment. (Yonhap)