Solid State Drives Lead Export Growth in June
The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on July 13 that exports from the information and communications technology (ICT) sector of South Korea totaled US$14.96 billion last month, up 1 percent from a year ago. The volume increased in three months, led by solid state drive (SSD) exports, after having shown a year-on-year decline of 15.3 percent and 2.7 percent in April and May, respectively.
Last month, exports of computers and peripherals added up to US$1.27 billion, up 84.5 percent from a year earlier. Those to the United States jumped 150.6 percent to US$460 million and those to China and Hong Kong rose 69.8 percent to US$480 million.
Especially, SSD exports totaled US$970 million with a year-on-year growth of 152.2 percent. The exports increased for the ninth consecutive month in June. According to market research firm IDC, the global SSD market is expected to grow 10.9 percent this year and 10.3 percent next year.
On the other hand, semiconductor exports edged down 0.5 percent to US$8.36 billion and display panel exports fell 5.2 percent to US$1.5 billion. Mobile phone exports dropped 10.6 percent to US$880 million. Specifically, exports of finished products dropped 24.4 percent to US$370 million whereas those of mobile phone components edged up 2.8 percent to US$520 million. The component exports to Vietnam increased 35 percent to US$280 million and those to China and Hong Kong were US$160 million.
Last month, the ICT sector’ imports increased 4.8 percent year on year to US$8.96 billion and the trade surplus of the sector totaled US$5.99 billion, including US$4.54 billion in semiconductor, US$1.15 billion in display and US$270 million in mobile phone.
The sector’s trade surplus with China and Hong Kong was US$4.25 billion. Those with Vietnam, the United States and the European Union were US$2.13 billion, US$1.27 billion and US$350 million, respectively. At the same time, its trade deficit with Japan was US$440 million.