Exports of Korean ICT products expanded almost 10 percent on year in March led by chips and display panels.
Moon Ji-young has the latest numbers.
Rebounds in chip and display sales led to an increase in South Korea’s tech exports last month, according to data released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Monday.
ICT exports in March reached almost 20-point-6 billion dollars, up 9-point 4 percent compared to the same month the previous year.
Month-on-month data shows that tech exports surged by 24 percent, while the trade balance saw an increase of a whopping 48 percent during the same period.
Exports of major tech items, such as chips, displays, cell phones and computers, have all risen together for the first time in eight months.
Semiconductor exports increased by nearly 12 percent year-on-year, driven by rising demand for high-value memory chips, such as High Bandwidth Memory and Double Data Rate 5.
This growth is attributed to expanded investments in AI servers and a reduction in companies’ memory inventories.
The display sector rebounded by one-point-three percent after eight months, thanks to the launch of new mobile phones.
Experts and officials from the Trade Ministry attribute these rebounds to preemptive measures taken by leading companies to secure their inventories in anticipation of reciprocal tariffs imposed by the U.S.
“Certainly, after the announcement of the tariffs imposition, there was a trend where companies tried to pull forward their shipments for the following month, and the month after that, before tariffs were increased.”
Exports of mobile phones soared by nearly 15 percent while computers jumped over 28 percent, both showing double-digit growth.
By country, shipments to the U.S., Vietnam, and Japan performed strongly last month, driven by robust demand for chips.
In contrast, exports to China, South Korea’s top export destination, fell by over 12 percent
due to decreased demand for chips and computers. There was also a drop in exports to Europe.
Meanwhile, ICT imports totaled over 12-point-2 billion dollars, resulting in a positive ICT trade balance.
Moon Ji-young, Arirang News.
Source : Arirang TV, https://www.arirang.com/news/view?id=282493
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