Korea Trade Data

Miscellaneous chemical products: South Korea exports and imports

HS chapter 38 · 각종 화학공업 생산품 · latest month: October 2026

Exports, October 2026
$708.2M
-2.6% vs previous month
vs same month a year earlier
+18.2%
export value
Exports, last 12 months
$8.14B
+8.9% vs 12 months before
Imports, October 2026
$991.8M
Export value per kg
$6.96
net weight, October 2026

In October 2026, South Korea exported $708.2 million of miscellaneous chemical products (HS 38), down 2.6% from September 2026 and up 18.2% from October 2025.

Over the 12 months to October 2026, exports of miscellaneous chemical products (HS 38) totalled $8.14 billion, up 8.9% from the 12 months before ($7.47 billion).

The largest destination over the 12 months to October 2026 was China ($3.09 billion, 38.0% of the total), followed by the United States and Vietnam.

That was 0.8% of South Korea's total goods exports over the same 12 months.

Imports in October 2026 were $991.8 million (up 18.1% from October 2025), leaving a deficit of $283.7 million for the month.

Last 24 months

Monthly exportsExport value in US dollars (FOB).
$0M$200M$400M$600M$800MOct ’26May ’26Dec ’25Jul ’25Feb ’25November 2024: $568.6 millionDecember 2024: $589.9 millionJanuary 2025: $527.0 millionFebruary 2025: $579.0 millionMarch 2025: $670.2 millionApril 2025: $687.4 millionMay 2025: $570.0 millionJune 2025: $617.7 millionJuly 2025: $651.0 millionAugust 2025: $691.4 millionSeptember 2025: $717.7 millionOctober 2025: $599.1 millionNovember 2025: $650.6 millionDecember 2025: $667.5 millionJanuary 2026: $622.6 millionFebruary 2026: $578.3 millionMarch 2026: $747.2 millionApril 2026: $660.6 millionMay 2026: $687.0 millionJune 2026: $717.5 millionJuly 2026: $745.4 millionAugust 2026: $624.4 millionSeptember 2026: $727.3 millionOctober 2026: $708.2 million
Monthly importsImport value in US dollars (CIF).
$0M$500M$1000M$1500MOct ’26May ’26Dec ’25Jul ’25Feb ’25$992MNovember 2024: $771.0 millionDecember 2024: $798.5 millionJanuary 2025: $749.1 millionFebruary 2025: $816.7 millionMarch 2025: $793.4 millionApril 2025: $841.8 millionMay 2025: $754.1 millionJune 2025: $798.6 millionJuly 2025: $841.8 millionAugust 2025: $783.5 millionSeptember 2025: $958.4 millionOctober 2025: $839.9 millionNovember 2025: $829.7 millionDecember 2025: $938.4 millionJanuary 2026: $803.2 millionFebruary 2026: $843.9 millionMarch 2026: $969.2 millionApril 2026: $905.3 millionMay 2026: $812.5 millionJune 2026: $921.7 millionJuly 2026: $938.0 millionAugust 2026: $935.1 millionSeptember 2026: $953.5 millionOctober 2026: $991.8 million

Headings under chapter 38

CodeProductExports, 12 monthsSharevs 12 months beforeOctober 2026
3818Doped chemical elements for electronics (wafers)$2.66B 32.6%+9.4%$228.5M
3824Miscellaneous chemical preparations$1.99B 24.4%+5.2%$169.8M
3808Insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and disinfectants$845.1M 10.4%-2.1%$89.4M
3822Diagnostic and laboratory reagents (including test kits)$694.0M 8.5%+0.1%$61.5M
3826Biodiesel$455.0M 5.6%+117.1%$33.9M
3817Mixed alkylbenzenes and mixed alkylnaphthalenes$290.1M 3.6%+101.8%$18.9M
3812Prepared rubber accelerators, etc.$188.6M 2.3%+3.5%$16.9M
3810Pickling preparations for metal surfaces, etc.$176.2M 2.2%+17.1%$16.4M
3811Anti-knock preparations, oxidation inhibitors, gum inhibitors, etc.$169.9M 2.1%+6.2%$15.2M
3809Finishing agents, etc.$166.5M 2.0%+9.1%$12.8M
3815Reaction initiators, reaction accelerators and catalytic preparations, etc.$140.3M 1.7%-35.0%$13.7M
3801Artificial graphite, etc.$137.9M 1.7%-5.8%$10.4M
3814Organic composite solvents and thinners, not elsewhere specified or included, etc.$111.6M 1.4%-19.4%$9.3M
3821Prepared culture media for the development or maintenance of micro-organisms, etc.$24.6M 0.3%+22.8%$2.6M
3816Refractory cements, mortars, concretes and similar compositions, etc.$21.3M 0.3%-0.9%$2.4M
3806Rosin and resin acids, and derivatives thereof, etc.$17.4M 0.2%+50.0%$1.3M
3802Activated carbon, etc.$13.7M 0.2%+65.1%$2.4M
3823Industrial monocarboxylic fatty acids, etc.$13.4M 0.2%+23.4%$632K
3820Anti-freezing preparations and prepared de-icing fluids$11.9M 0.1%+31.1%$863K
3819Hydraulic brake fluids and other prepared liquids for hydraulic transmission, etc.$10.4M 0.1%-3.1%$720K
3813Preparations and charges for fire-extinguishers, etc.$2.7M 0.0%+67.3%$231K
3827Mixtures containing halogenated derivatives of methane, ethane or propane, etc.$2.1M 0.0%+36.9%$212K
3825Residual products of the chemical or allied industries, etc.$784K 0.0%+165.7%$0
3804Residual lyes from the manufacture of wood pulp, whether or not concentrated, etc.$589K 0.0%+64.0%$49K
3807Wood tar, etc.$99K 0.0%-13.8%$19K
3803Tall oil, whether or not refined$17K 0.0%-42.3%$0
3805Turpentine and other terpenic oils$5,874 0.0%–$0

Top destinations

Export value over the 12 months to October 2026. 210 countries received this product from South Korea in the last 24 months; the table shows the largest 20.

RankCountryExports, 12 monthsSharevs 12 months before Rank beforeOctober 2026
1China $3.09B38.0%+8.4%1 $257.1M
2United States $735.4M9.0%-30.2%2 $75.5M
3Vietnam $475.5M5.8%+2.7%3 $36.7M
4Spain $382.8M4.7%+499.4%21 $26.5M
5Japan $355.8M4.4%+23.7%4 $39.0M
6Taiwan $342.1M4.2%+54.6%5 $35.7M
7Indonesia $248.1M3.0%+19.9%6 $39.0M
8India $236.6M2.9%+18.9%8 $22.8M
9Brazil $208.9M2.6%+12.3%9 $13.5M
10Netherlands $187.9M2.3%-5.7%7 $4.0M
11Singapore $150.6M1.9%-9.6%10 $16.2M
12France $114.5M1.4%+7.4%12 $10.4M
13Belgium $107.1M1.3%+9.7%13 $5.4M
14Mexico $99.6M1.2%+24.6%17 $9.4M
15Colombia $95.4M1.2%+95.1%23 $6.1M
16Australia $93.1M1.1%+7.4%15 $6.2M
17Philippines $91.4M1.1%+3.5%14 $10.1M
18Thailand $84.8M1.0%-28.1%11 $4.6M
19Germany $75.9M0.9%+3.1%18 $6.7M
20Italy $74.3M0.9%-8.2%16 $4.0M

Countries are linked when exports of this product to them reached $1,000,000 over 24 months.

Monthly figures

MonthExportsvs year earlierExport weightExport $/kg ImportsImport weight
October 2026$708.2M+18.2%101,784 t $6.96$991.8M271,708 t
September 2026$727.3M+1.3%140,630 t $5.17$953.5M179,093 t
August 2026$624.4M-9.7%110,751 t $5.64$935.1M179,866 t
July 2026$745.4M+14.5%160,732 t $4.64$938.0M183,175 t
June 2026$717.5M+16.2%121,332 t $5.91$921.7M240,839 t
May 2026$687.0M+20.5%133,161 t $5.16$812.5M171,986 t
April 2026$660.6M-3.9%100,545 t $6.57$905.3M235,366 t
March 2026$747.2M+11.5%147,070 t $5.08$969.2M254,256 t
February 2026$578.3M-0.1%99,565 t $5.81$843.9M174,211 t
January 2026$622.6M+18.1%116,409 t $5.35$803.2M202,301 t
December 2025$667.5M+13.2%110,211 t $6.06$938.4M310,398 t
November 2025$650.6M+14.4%103,006 t $6.32$829.7M192,535 t
October 2025$599.1M+2.9%92,247 t $6.49$839.9M148,142 t
September 2025$717.7M+25.9%100,242 t $7.16$958.4M177,936 t
August 2025$691.4M+12.3%111,498 t $6.20$783.5M189,433 t
July 2025$651.0M+3.8%128,005 t $5.09$841.8M185,566 t
June 2025$617.7M+10.2%89,469 t $6.90$798.6M231,475 t
May 2025$570.0M-3.7%85,247 t $6.69$754.1M269,029 t
April 2025$687.4M+13.9%92,709 t $7.41$841.8M220,039 t
March 2025$670.2M+15.9%93,185 t $7.19$793.4M162,607 t
February 2025$579.0M+8.5%96,128 t $6.02$816.7M185,750 t
January 2025$527.0M-10.2%81,564 t $6.46$749.1M236,166 t
December 2024$589.9M+6.8%99,505 t $5.93$798.5M232,933 t
November 2024$568.6M-5.5%100,231 t $5.67$771.0M214,930 t

Exports FOB, imports CIF, US dollars. Weight is net weight. "vs year earlier" compares export value with the same month one year before and is left blank when that month was under $10,000. Source: Korea Customs Service, via data.go.kr.