SOUTH KOREAN EXPORTS REACH RECORD US$29.93BLN IN SEPTEMBER.

SEOUL, Oct. 2 Asia Pulse - South Korea's exports rose 22.1 percent from a year ago to a record high of US$29.93 billion in September, fuelled by strong overseas demand for cars, petrochemicals, semiconductors and steel, a government report said Sunday.

During the cited month, imports reached $27.90 billion, up 22.8 percent year-on-year, with the country's trade surplus standing at $2.03 billion, according to the report by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy. The trade surplus is the highest of this year.

The ministry said the export growth for last month marked the eighth straight monthly double-digit rise, a clear indication that South Korean products have gained international competitiveness despite unfavorable exchange rates and high oil prices.

Na Do-sung, head of the ministry's trade policy office, said the sharp rise in exports can be linked to efforts by companies to ship out their goods before the three-day "Chuseok" fall harvest holiday period that falls later this week.

"At the present pace, exports for the year will exceed the .0 billion target set by the government and could pull off double-digit growth into 2007," he said. The director general added the trade surplus will likely move past $12 billion.

Na, however, said a drop in the number of working days in October could cause growth to fall into single digits for the month.

On a daily basis, South Korean companies shipped out a record average of $1.27 billion worth of goods, exceeding the previous record of $1.22 billion in June of this year. South Korea has been exporting an average of more than $1 billion a day since September 2005. The daily average of $1.19 billion ...