SEOUL (Feb 1): South Korea's exports rose in January for an eighth consecutive month and at the fastest pace in four and a half years, as demand for AI-servers continues to power the country's chip sales, government data showed on Sunday. Exports from Asia's fourth-largest economy, a bellwether for global trade, rose 33.9% in January to US$65.85 billion (RM259.58 billion), trade data showed, beating a median 29.9% increase tipped in a Reuters poll of economists. Of the country's 15 major export items, sales for 13 of them including chips, cars, petrochemical products, steel and computers increased. Destination-wise, exports to China logged the sharpest exports increase, jumping by 46.7% on-year in January. "Having said that, uncertainty in the trade environment has increased due to the US tariff policy and the spread of protectionism."

Source: The Edge Markets February 01, 2026 03:52 UTC