South Korea's exports reached 27.71 billion U.S. dollars in August, up 18.7 percent year-on-year, on the back of strong overseas demand for petrochemicals, semiconductors and general machinery, a government report said Friday.

According to the report by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy, South Korea's trade surplus was 620 million U.S. dollars in August, and the imports stood at 27.09 billion U.S. dollars, up 23.1 percent.

The export growth marked the seventh straight month of double- digit gain, a clear indication that South Korean products have gained international competitiveness despite unfavorable exchange rates and high oil prices, the report said.

On a daily basis, South Korean companies shipped out an average of 1.15 billion U.S. dollars worth of goods. The country has exported more than 1 billion U.S. dollars a day since September 2005. The daily exporting reached its peak at 1.22 billion U.S. dollars in June, 2006.

During the first eight months of this year, South Korea's exports gained 14.2 percent from a year earlier to 209.09 billion U.S. dollars, while its imports rose 19.8 percent to 201.00 billion U.S. dollars, the report said. The expansion in imports was mainly due to high crude oil prices.

According to the report, South Korea's trade surplus reached 8. 09 billion U.S. dollars in the first eight months.

The report also showed South Korean exports to India, Japan, China and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) grew by double digits while its exports to the United States and the European Union dropped 11 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively, due to decrease in auto exports.

Source: Xinhua