South Korea's ICT Exports See Steepest On-Year Increase in April
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South Korea's ICT exports rose 125.9% year-over-year to $42.7 billion in April, driven by strong demand for chips and AI-related items, with semiconductors up 173.3% and computers/accessories surging 430%.
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SEOUL, May 14 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's exports of information and communication technology (ICT) products posted the steepest on-year increase in April, driven by strong overseas demand for chips and other items related to the artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem, data showed Thursday. Outbound shipments of ICT products in April rose 125.9 percent from a year earlier to US$42.7 billion, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Science and ICT. It marked the sharpest on-year increase by percentage, and the second-largest exports in terms of value since the ministry started compiling related data, the ministry added. Imports moved up 33.3 percent to $16.2 billion, resulting in the surplus of $26.6 billion. "ICT exports accounted for around half, or 49.7 percent, of the country's total exports of $85.9 billion in the month, reaffirming the sector's reputation as the key industry leading the South Korean economy's growth," the ministry said in a release. By product, exports of semiconductors jumped 173.3 percent over the period to $31.9 billion, as excess demand for memory chips continued due to the steady investment in AI. Exports of computers and related accessories surged 430 percent to $4.3 billion, driven by demand for solid state drives (SSDs), a critical infrastructure in the AI supply chain. Outbound shipments of smartphones rose 14 percent to $1.4 billion in April. Those for telecommunication devices moved up 9.9 percent on-year to $220 million, led by shipments to Japan and Vietnam. Exports of display products, on the other hand, lost 5.3 percent to $1.4 billion, as cost pressures from a rise in chip prices weighed on demand, the ministry said. By destination, exports to the United States rose nearly fourfold from a year earlier, led by chips, smartphones, computers and related accessories. Outbound shipments to China jumped 132.1 percent, while the figure for Vietnam advanced 89.3 percent, and exports for Taiwan moved up 89.4 percent.
