South Korea exports in August down 9.9% y/y

South Korea exports -9.9% y/y (Reuters poll for the expected centred on -11.5%)

• imports -16.3% y/y (Reuters poll -15.2%)
• August trade balance at provisional $+4.12 bln vs $+4.13 bln in July
• exports to China -3.0% y/y
• semiconductor exports +2.8% y/y
• avg exports per working day -3.8% y/y

SK exports are often quite a good gauge of the health, or not, of the global economy. Right now ... not ... but as recovery from COVID-19 takes place, in a bit of a "2 steps forward and 1 step back" fashion so far admittedly, exports should improve.