South Korea’s exports decline amid continued uncertainty

South Korea’s exports have shown signs of improvement, but uncertainty from China continues to weigh on the economy, a government think tank said on Thursday.

The assessment came after the country reported a trade surplus for the third month in a row in August, despite exports falling for the eleventh month in a row amid slowing chip sales.

“The decline in semiconductor exports is slowing, and other categories are also showing signs of improving export performance,”the Korea Development Institute (KDI) said.

However, the institute said that the economic uncertainty is “escalating”, mostly due to economic instability in China, along with increasing inflationary pressures, amid rising global crude oil prices.

“Moreover, the increase in consumer prices, driven by high world oil prices, could partially hinder the easing of the economic downturn,”he said.

However, the institute said that it is noticeable that manufacturing production is showing signs of improvement driven by the semiconductor sector.

The Research Center said that the” fundamental trend of slowing inflation ” continues, despite some seasonal factors.

Consumer prices in South Korea rose at a faster pace than expected in August due to higher prices for agricultural and manufactured goods, rising by 3.4% year-on-year. This was the highest year-on-year jump since growth reached 3.7% in April.