South Korean February export growth beats forecasts on chip demand

SEOUL, March 1 (Reuters) – South Korean export growth exceeded market forecasts in February, trade ministry data showed on Friday, expanding for a fifth successive month as a surge in semiconductor demand made up for a decline in vehicle sales. Exports from Asia’s fourth-largest economy rose 4.8% from the same month a year earlier to $52.41 billion, beating a gain of 1.9% tipped in a Reuters poll of economists. While that represented a softening from January’s on-year surge of 18%, February export growth adjusted for working-day differences was 12.5%, faster than January’s 5.7%, the data showed. There were fewer working days in February this year than last because the Lunar New Year holiday period fell in February rather than January.…