SEOUL — Export by South Korean small and medium companies (SMEs) rose for the second straight quarter due to strong demand for cosmetics and plastic products, government data showed on Tuesday.

Outbound shipment by the SMEs increased 3.6 percent from a year earlier to $27.76 billion in the January-March quarter, after growing 1.6 percent in the previous quarter, according to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.

The proportion of SMEs export to the total shipment declined to 17.0 percent in the first quarter from 17.7 percent a year earlier.

Cosmetic products export by the SMEs surged 30.1 percent to 1.55 billion dollars in the first quarter compared with the same quarter 2023.

Shipment for plastic products gained 9.2 percent to $1.24 billion, but automotive export reduced 9.1 percent to $1.04 billion.

Export for machinery and electronic applied apparatus advanced in double digits in the cited quarter.

The SMEs export to the United States jumped 24.5 percent to $4.72 billion, but shipment to Japan diminished 6.9 percent to $2.43 billion.

Export to Vietnam and India climbed in single digits to $2.55 billion and $780 million each.

The number of South Korean exporting SMEs added 1.7 percent over the year to 62,214 in the first quarter.

The number of SMEs with a quarterly export of more than $10 million swelled to 362 in the first quarter from 323 a year earlier.