SEOUL, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's farm goods exports fell last month due to global economic slowdown and lack of supply caused by a series of typhoons, a government report showed Friday.
Exports of food and agricultural products reached 650 million U. S. dollars in September, down 0.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
The September fall was attributed to weaker demand in major export destinations stemming from the global economic slump as well as lack of farm goods caused by a series of typhoons that hit the country during the summer season.
For the first nine months of this year, the farm goods exports reached 5.64 billion dollars, up 4.2 percent from the same period last year.
By region, exports to the European Union (EU), the United States and the ASEAN increased 11.6 percent, 9.0 percent and 9.9 percent each in September from a year before, but those to Japan, the No.1 importer of South Korean farm goods, tumbled 9.5 percent last month. Shipments to China and Hong Kong also contracted 12.1 percent and 11.3 percent respectively.
By item, shipments of fresh vegetables and fisheries products declined 2.3 percent and 4.1 percent each last month, but the declines were offset by an increase in processed food exports, including tobacco and milk formula whose exports surged 25.2 percent and 76 percent, respectively.
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