Exports dropped 14.3 percent from a year earlier for a sixth straight double-digit decline, South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy data showed yesterday. The government was more upbeat on the outlook for next year, saying that shipments hit bottom in October and would rebound from the first quarter of next year. The trade data showed that chip exports, the largest category in South Korea’s overseas shipments, dropped 30.8 percent, compared with falls of more than 30 percent in the past few months. The export numbers add to signs that the Asian country is on course for its weakest economic growth in a decade. Shipments to China dropped 12.2 percent last month from a year earlier, reflecting slowing growth in the world’s second largest economy and South Korea’s biggest export destination.
