ICT Exports
The information and communications technology sector has turned out to be the largest contributor to Korea’s trade surplus in March, on the back of its export spurt to key trade nations including China and the U.S.
The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning reported on April 10 that last month’s ICT segment exports stood at US$14.98 billion, 8.9 percent up year-on-year, showing a steady gain on the heels of the year-on-year growth of 1.6 percent in January and 8.6 percent in February.
The March ICT trade balance was posted at US$7.55 billion, playing an integral part in achieving the domestic industry’s trade surplus of US$4.19 billion.
ICT’s first quarter exports totaled US$41.2 billion, with a trade surplus of US$20.5 billion in the cited segment.
The ministry explained, “March export totals and trade surplus were both at a record high, and the leading contributors were exports to China and the U.S. by region, and semiconductors and cell phones by items.”
By region, China recorded US$7.39 billion in export, 9.9 percent up year-on-year followed by Southeast Asia’s US$2.8 billion, 11.0 percent up, America’s US$1.47 billion, 15.1 percent up, and Central and South America’s US$840 million, 10.2 percent up year-on-year.
Major export items were semiconductors (US$5.24 billion, 14 percent up), cell phones (US$2.4 billion, 30.3 percent up), and D-TV (US$630 million. 23.8 percent).
Korean imports showed a diverging trend. Advanced economies such as Japan (US$920 million, 9.6 percent down), the US (US$660 million, 1.2 percent down), and the EU (US$490 million. 13.2 percent down) showed a downward trend, while emerging economies went in the opposite direction such as China (including Hong Kong, US$2.68 billion, 16.1 percent up), Southeast Asia (US$1.29 billion, 22.8 percent up), and the Middle East (US$40 million 9.9 percent up).
Korea’s biggest import items were semiconductors (US$3.05 billion, 3.2 percent up), display panels (US$490 million, 10.3 percent up), and D-TV (US$30 million, 30.6 percent up). Korean imports went down on items such as component parts (US$410 million, 6.1 percent down) and peripherals (US$330 million, 2.7 percent down).