SEOUL, April 1 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's export rose in single digits for the second consecutive month due to strong demand for locally-made semiconductors and automobiles, government data showed Tuesday.

Export, which accounts for about half of the export-driven economy, gained 3.1 percent from a year earlier to 58.28 billion U.S. dollars in March, after inching up 0.7 percent in the previous month, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Import grew 2.3 percent to 53.30 billion dollars, sending the trade surplus to 4.98 billion dollars. The trade balance stayed in black for the second straight month.

Of the country's 15 major export items, seven products saw an increase in outbound shipment.

Semiconductor export jumped 11.9 percent over the year to 13.06 billion dollars in March owing to robust demand for high-end chips including DDR5 and high bandwidth memory (HBM) used in generative artificial intelligence (AI) chipsets.

Display panel shipment added 2.9 percent to 1.46 billion dollars, and mobile device export climbed 13.8 percent to 1.27 billion dollars on solid demand for high-end smartphones.

Computer export surged 33.1 percent to 1.18 billion dollars, keeping a double-digit expansion for the 15th straight month on steady demand for solid state drive (SSD).

Automotive shipment was up 1.2 percent to 6.24 billion dollars amid higher demand for hybrid electric vehicles, but auto parts export reduced 3.6 percent to 1.84 billion dollars.

Export for ships spiked 51.6 percent to 3.19 billion dollars due to firm demand for LNG carriers and container ships, but general machinery shipment shrank 3.5 percent to 4.14 billion dollars.

Export for oil products dived 28.1 percent to 3.35 billion dollars on the back of lower product price.

Global prices for gasoline and diesel went down 18.1 percent and 16.8 percent each in March on a yearly basis.

Petrochemical shipment decreased 10.8 percent to 3.62 billion dollars on the global supply glut and cheaper crude oil.

Dubai crude, South Korea's benchmark, averaged 77.9 dollars per barrel in February, down 3.7 percent from a year earlier.

Steel product export fell 10.6 percent to 2.58 billion dollars on lower product price, while those for home appliances, textiles, and secondary batteries diminished in single digits to 640 million dollars, 820 million dollars and 640 million dollars each.

Export to the United States increased 2.3 percent from a year earlier to 11.13 billion dollars in March compared to the same month of last year on higher demand for chips and computers.

Shipment to the Association of South East Asian Nations spiked 9.1 percent to 10.32 billion dollars due to solid demand for chips, ships and steel products, and export to the European Union gained 9.8 percent to 6.26 billion dollars.

Export to Japan and the Middle East advanced to 2.17 billion dollars and 1.77 billion dollars respectively, but those to Latin America and India dwindled to 2.24 billion dollars and 1.51 billion dollars each.

Regarding import items, the import of three major energy sources, including crude oil, natural gas and coal, dropped 7.3 percent to 10.10 billion dollars last month.

Non-energy imports swelled 4.8 percent to 43.20 billion dollars on solid demand for semiconductor equipment and computers. Enditem

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