SEOUL - South Korea posted a 4.05 billion dollar (S$5.59 billion) trade surplus in November, with exports growing from year-earlier levels for the first time in more than a year, official figures showed Tuesday.

Exports rose 18.8 percent year on year to 34.27 billion US dollars and imports gained 4.7 percent to 30.22 billion US dollars, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said in a statement.

The November surplus was up from a revised 3.63 billion US dollar surplus in October and marked the 10th consecutive month in the black.

"A surge in exports of such products as semiconductors, liquid crystal displays and petrochemicals all helped push up exports last month," said Kang Myung-Soo, head of the ministry's export-import division.

Exports to the United States, Japan and Europe all posted modest gains compared to November 2008, while shipments to China and Latin American economies gained 52.2 percent and 63.8 percent respectively.

The ministry predicted that the overall trade surplus for this year is likely to exceed 40 billion US dollars in what would be a record high.

Analysts were cautious about future prospects.

"It was easy for exports to rebound to the level they fell from, but won't be that easy to go beyond it given that we have yet to see fundamental improvements globally," Jun Min-Kyoo, an economist at Korea Investment and Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.

He said exports, in terms of value, were likely to trend sideways in the months to come, although year-on-year growth would be handsome reflecting a comparison with last year's depressed levels.

Eugene Investment and Securities economist Shin Dong-Suk predicted monthly export values would likely remain around 35 billion dollars in the months ahead.

Last year, monthly exports averaged 35.2 billion US dollars.

Alaistair Chan, associate economist with Moody's Economy.com, foresaw a possible bounce in exports due to inventory restocking in early 2010 but said the overall outlook remains weak.

"The boom in auto exports in recent months due to US stimulus measures may have brought some purchases forward, implying weaker performance ahead," he said in a commentary.

"Chinese demand for Korea's exports is growing but a large portion is re-exported to other markets. Even if exports grow 12.9 percent next year, total export revenue will still be lower than in 2008."