South Korea’s exports in March managed to stabilize, although the fall in export prices and lowering overall sentiment portend a drop amid the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Trade Ministry on Wednesday.

The nation’s exports reached $46.9 billion, down 0.2 percent from a year ago. Export prices went down by 11.7 percent on-year, while the amount of outbound shipments went up by 13.1 percent, the largest leap in the last 17 months.

Export prices of oil products, for instance, fell by 22.7 percent, while those of petrochemical products dropped 17.2 percent. Fabric and steel products also went down by 9.7 percent and 9.1 percent, respectively.

Average daily exports continued to fall in March, marking a 6.4 percent decrease on-year. But the pace has slowed down, compared to that of February when the daily exports slipped by 11.9 percent.

The decline in March was less significant than the government expected, according a ministry official. However, the coronavirus’ negative impact on the nation’s exports may continue, the official added.

Korea’s exports to its major trading partners have remained relatively solid so far.

Exports to the US last month increased by 17.3 percent on-year on high demand for automobiles and chips, while that to the EU moved up by 10 percent.

Exports to China have reached $450 million, recovering from $360 million in February when the viral outbreak reached its peak in the neighboring nation.

Major items too have avoided major fallouts.

Outbound shipments of chips moved down 2.7 percent on-year in March, but export prices remained high. Outbound shipments of cars went up 3 percent from a year earlier due to increased sales in the North American market

Exports of mobile devices also rose by 13.3 percent from a year earlier on increasing demand for indoor activities. Exports of computer and wireless products too increased by 82.3 percent and 13.3 percent, respectively.

Shipments of COVID-19 testing kits and hand sanitizers rose by 117.1 percent and 81.4 percent.

Exports of petrochemical products, however, fell 9 percent on-year in March because of the recent drop in global oil prices.

Meanwhile, the inbound shipments decreased by 0.3 percent to reach at $41.8 billion, marking a trade surplus of $5 billion.

By Shim Woo-hyun (ws@heraldcorp.com)