[News] Robust Demand in AI Drives South Korea’s Chip Exports in June to Record High

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On July 1st, according to a report from Reuters, the South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy has announced that exports had grown for the ninth consecutive month in June. The sustained and even increasing demand for chips overseas led to a record high in chip export value for June. This export growth also propelled South Korea’s Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) to its highest level in over two years.

In June, South Korea’s exports grew by 5.1% year-on-year to USD 57 billion, while imports decreased by 7.5% to USD 49 billion. This resulted in a trade surplus of USD 8 billion, surpassing market expectations of USD 5.24 billion and marking the largest surplus since September 2020, as well as a 13 consecutive month of surplus.

Reportedly, chips are the most significant driver of export growth, with a 50.9% year-on-year growth in June to USD 13.4 billion, marking eight consecutive months of year-on-year growth.

The Trade Ministry believes that the robust demand for high-performance memory chips, such as DRAM for AI servers, has driven the recovery in exports.

As per another report from The Korea Times, South Korea’s exports of IT products such as displays, computers, and wireless communication devices have been growing consecutively for four months. In June, these three categories saw year-on-year export increases of 26.1%, 58.8%, and 3.9%, respectively.

In terms of export markets, South Korea’s exports to the United States in June rose by 14.7% year-on-year to USD 11 billion, reaching a new high for the same month in historical records. This marks continuous monthly export highs to the U.S. since August last year. Meanwhile, exports to mainland China increased by 1.8% year-on-year to USD 10.7 billion, marking four consecutive months of growth.

For the first half of the year, South Korea’s total exports amounted to USD 334.8 billion, a 9.1% increase from the same period last year. Imports, on the other hand, decreased by 6.5% year-on-year to USD 311.7 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of USD 23.1 billion, the highest for the same period since 2018.

(Photo credit: Samsung)