Seoul, Nov 1 (IANS): South Korea's trade surplus rebounded to $4.29 billion in October helped by robust exports to emerging nations, a government report showed Tuesday.

Trade surplus reached $4.29 billion in October, up from a $1.56 billion surplus tallied in the previous month, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said in a statement. The nation's trade balance has remained in the black for the 21th consecutive month in October.

The surplus rebounded in October due mainly to growth in exports, which account for around half of the Asia's No.4 economy. Exports grew by 9.3 percent on-year to $47.36 billion last month despite lingering external uncertainties such as Europe's debt crisis.

Exports to emerging nations led the October growth. Shipments to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Japan and China jumped by 25 percent, 25.3 percent and 16 percent on-year last month respectively, while exports to the US and Europe contracted by 7 percent and 20.4 percent each over the same period.

Exports of oil products, automobiles and steel products grew by 29 percent, 18.9 percent and 17.9 percent respectively in October from a year earlier, but shipments of mobile devices, ships and semiconductors shrank by 28.9 percent, 6.4 percent and 4.4 percent respectively over the cited period.

Meanwhile, import growth slowed down last month due to a reduction in capital goods imports and slowed growth in consumer goods imports, according to the report. Imports expanded 16.4 percent on-year to $43.07 billion in October, slower than the 29.3 percent on-year growth tallied in September.

Imports of capital goods such as semiconductor equipment decreased by 4.9 percent on-year in October compared with a 40.8 percent on-year surge tallied in the previous year. Inbound shipments of consumer goods such as clothing and food grew by 9.7 percent last month, sharply down from a 59.6 percent on-year expansion a year earlier.

Demand for raw materials continued. Inbound shipments of crude oil, natural gas and coal increased by 52.7 percent, 48.6 percent and 14 percent each in October on a yearly basis due to higher commodity prices and strong demand for raw materials, according to the report.