S.Korea's exports fall on lower business days

South Korea's exports fell slightly last month on lower business days, but daily average exports increased on the back of solid demand for major items, a government report showed Monday.

Exports, which account for around half of the economy, reduced 0.1 percent from a year earlier to 46.28 billion U.S. dollars in August, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The reduction came as working days declined by a day compared with a year earlier. A partial strike at Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, the country's top two car makers also caused a drop in auto exports.

Shipments of automobiles and auto parts plunged 16.9 percent and 9.6 percent each in August from a year ago.

Other major export items showed outperformance, leading a daily average export of 2.06 billion dollars in August from 1.97 billion dollars in the same month of last year.

Exports of steel and ships climbed 9.5 percent and 7.5 percent each last month, and those for telecommunication devices such as smartphones jumped 8.7 percent. Shipments of petroleum products and semiconductors gained 6.7 percent and 5.1 percent respectively.