According to Yonhap News,

(SEOUL = Yonhap News) Petroleum products have been Korea’s top export items for the last three years.

According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy and Korea Petroleum Association (KPA) on January 28, the country’s exports of petroleum products reached USD 52.776 billion in 2013, USD 51.6 billion in 2012 and USD 56.98 billion in 2011, surpassing USD 50 billion for the third consecutive year.

Total exports during the last three years reached about USD 157.7 billion, overtaking semiconductor memory (USD 157.7 billion) and auto parts (USD 141.2 billion) exports.

Last year, semiconductor memory exports rose by 13.3 percent to USD 57.146 billion, but exports of petroleum products were down by six percent and saw its standing slide to second.

“Exports to the United States and the European Union increased, but exports to China, ASEAN and Central and South America fell,” said a KPA official. The association pointed out that the recession in the emerging economies of Southeast Asia, fall in product prices and establishment of new refinery plants were the main factors that affected petroleum product exports.

China was the largest market for Korean petroleum products, followed by Japan and Singapore. Exports to China made up about 18.5 percent of the total, with exports to Japan and Singapore accounting for 16.3 percent and 14.6 percent, respectively.

Exports to China dropped from 21.3 percent in 2011 to 16.4 percent in 2013 due to the slowdown of the country’s economy and increase in the number of refinery plants, but exports to the United States (5.3 percent), Australia (5.2 percent) and the Netherlands (3.4 percent) filled the gap.

“The decrease in demand of crude oil and lower refining margin result in lower demand for Korean petroleum products, but we will do our jobs as Korea’s leading export industry through export diversification and other means,” an industry official said.

The petroleum industry invested a total of KRW 11 trillion in advanced facilities for the last five years to strengthen its industrial competitiveness, diversify export markets and improve the efficiency of its export strategies.