SOUTH KOREAN exports fell the slowest in four months and beat market expectations, data showed Saturday, a further sign a recovery in Asia’s fourth largest economy is gaining traction, although threats loom from global flare-ups in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Overseas sales fell 7 percent in July from a year earlier, the country’s trade ministry said, the fifth month of decline but much less than June’s 10.9 percent fall and the 9.7 percent drop tipped in a recent survey.

South Korea is the first major exporting economy to release monthly trade data, providing an early guide to the health of global trade.

Saturday’s data came a day after the country’s factory output, which trails trade and some other data by a month, jumped at the fastest rate since 2009 and much quicker than expected, supporting hopes that the worst of the coronavirus impact has passed.

“Expectations of an improvement in exports in the second half are materializing,” though the pace of recovery is likely to be mild, said Park Sang-hyun, chief economist at HI Investment & Securities.

The trade-reliant economy has slipped into recession, joining Japan, Thailand and Singapore, in the second quarter despite some 277 trillion won (US$232 billion) worth of stimulus rolled out since the outbreak.

Exports to China, South Korea’s biggest trading partner, rose 2.5 percent from a year earlier and for a second month. Those to the United States jumped 7.7 percent, reversing previous contractions, but sales to the European Union continued to fall, down 11.1 percent.

Shipments of semiconductors, the nation’s top export, climbed 5.6 percent, while those of computers and ships surged 77.1 percent and 18 percent, respectively.

Imports dropped 11.9 percent, sharper than the previous month’s 11.2 percent and the forecast 11.5 percent fall. That resulted in a US$4.27 billion trade surplus, expanded from US$3.63 billion in June.

“The global coronavirus spread seems to be the most important variable in South Korean trade, while tension between China and the United States could add pressure,” Park added.(SD-Agencies)