Petroleum products led Korea's exports in the first quarter. Shipments of petroleum products were worth US$13.7 billion during this period, up 27.8 percent on-year and 10.1 percent of the entire export volume of $135 billion, the Korea Petroleum Association said Sunday.

Next came automobiles (9.5 percent), ships (9.1 percent), semiconductor chips (8.9 percent), and general machine products (8.8 percent).

"Last year, exports of gasoline, diesel, lubricants and other petroleum products reached $51.7 billion, up 63.9 percent on-year, and second only to ships ($56.5 billion)," the association said. "But they topped the list this first quarter because of a rise in global oil prices and increased outbound shipments.

In terms of volume, some 68 million barrels of petroleum products were exported in January and February, up 19.7 percent on-year.