Exports of petroleum products rise 11 pct in Aug.

SEOUL, Sept. 29 (Yonhap) -- South Korean exports of gasoline, diesel and other petroleum products gained 11.1 percent on-year in August on higher prices and growing overseas demand, the government said Thursday.
The country shipped 39.41 million barrels of petroleum products last month, compared with 35.48 million barrels exported in the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.
Bolstered by rising prices, the value of the exports jumped 57.5 percent on-year to US$4.66 billion, the ministry said.
"Petroleum products became the country's single largest export item for the sixth consecutive month since March, surpassing semiconductors and automobile," the ministry said in a press release.
The ministry attributed the growth to growing demand for South Korean products and increasing global prices of oil and petroleum products.
The export value of South Korean products represents 57.7 percent of the $8.08 billion the country spent to purchase oil in August, according to the ministry. The funds spent on oil imports spiked 43.3 percent from the same period last year, although the total volume of imports dropped 3.8 percent to some 72.77 million barrels.
Domestic consumption of petroleum products rose 1.8 percent from a year earlier, largely on growing demand from the industrial sector.
Fuel consumption for transportation inched up 0.4 percent on-year as demand from the shipping industry shot up 16.7 percent, while usage for road and air transportation dropped 0.2 percent and 6.9 percent, respectively.
The ministry attributed the drop in road and air transportation to high fuel costs and fewer shipments from semiconductor manufacturers, which are major customers of air cargo services. Air cargo exports in August dropped 11.4 percent from a year earlier.
Consumption of petroleum products by the industrial sector rose 5.6 percent mainly as demand for naphtha, frequently used in the petrochemical and chemical industries as a solvent, jumped 9.4 percent, the ministry said.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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