Seoul  - South Korean exports fell 21.2 per cent in March from the same month a year ago in their fifth-straight monthly decline as demand for the country's products weakened amid the global recession.

Exports from Asia's fourth-largest economy, which is largely dependent on exports, dropped to 28.3 billion dollars, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said Wednesday.

Imports were down 36 per cent to 23.7 billion dollars, the balance creating a record trade surplus of 4.6 billion dollars.

Despite declining demand from the European Union, China, the United States, Japan and the Association of South-East Asian Nations, export volume was up 2.9 billion dollars from February.

Volume was pushed up by exports from the shipping industry, the weakness of the South Korean won and a larger number of working days in March, the ministry said.

Exports of South Korean shipbuilders shot up 61 per cent to 4.1 billion dollars compared with the same period last year.

However, exports of steel, vehicles and semiconductors were down.

The ministry said it expected exports to expand again by the fourth quarter and predicted a trade surplus of about 20 billion dollars for the full year.

South Korea is on the verge of its first recession since the end of the Asian financial crisis more than 10 years ago.

Industry output shrank for the fourth-consecutive month in February by 10.3 per cent compared with the same period last year, the National Statistical Office said.

Output, however, increased by 6.8 per cent compared with January when South Korea's industrial production logged its biggest contraction on record at 25.5 per cent. (dpa)