South Korea’s ICT exports rise 4.7 pc in June for fifth consecutive month

SEOUL: South Korea’s exports of information and communications technology products rose for the fifth consecutive month in June, driven by strong semiconductor demand, government data showed on Monday.

Shipments of ICT products increased by 4.7% year-on-year to $22.03 billion, extending an upward trend that began in February, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Chip exports surged by 11.5% to a record-high $14.98 billion, buoyed by robust demand for high-end items such as double data rate 5 (DDR5) modules and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used in generative artificial intelligence chipsets.

Exports of computers and peripherals jumped by 12.7% to $1.45 billion, while sales of communications equipment fell by 0.7% to $200m.

Display panel shipments dropped by 33.7% to $1.29 billion and mobile phone exports declined by 6.2% to $790 million.

Imports of ICT products rose by 14.0% year-on-year to $12.41 billion in June, pushing the industry’s trade surplus to $9.62 billion.

Imports of chips and mobile devices increased in double digits, whereas those for computers and communications equipment recorded double-digit decreases over the same period.

By RSS/Xinhua