By Cynthia Kim
SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea's exports rose for a ninth consecutive month in June, albeit at a slower pace than expected, as robust demand for chips and cars bolstered the export recovery in Asia's fourth-largest economy.
Overseas sales in June increased by 5.1% from a year earlier to $57.07 billion, while imports decreased by 7.5% over the same period to $49.07 billion, preliminary data from the Korea Customs Service showed.
Export growth missed analysts' forecasts of a 6.3% expansion from a year earlier, likely because of calendar effects that may not have been factored in by some analysts. June this year had 21.5 working days for shipments, fewer than 23 days in the same month last year.
Chip exports surged 52.2% from a year ago thank to price gains in memory chips, while car exports increased 3.8%.
Of South Korea's nine major exports destinations, sales to six of them increased in June. Exports to the U.S. and China jumped 16.8% and 5.4% year-on-year, respectively, data showed.
"Overseas shipments will continue to expand throughout the second half, as the global boom around AI will continue to support demand for South Korean chips especially when Apple Inc. launches new products," said Jeong Yong-taek, an economist at IBK Securities.
"The won is expected to stay weak on the back of strong dollar and support South Korea's exports."
(Reporting by Cynthia Kim; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Jamie Freed)