S. Korea’s ICT Exports Reach New Monthly High in April

South Korea’s ICT exports posted a new monthly high in April by reaching US$17.23 billion. The figure represented a year-on-year increase of 10.9%, extending the double-digit growth streak to 17 months.

Korea’s ICT imports totaled US$8.68 billion in April, up 10% from the same month a year ago.

Semiconductor exports increased 36.6% from a year ago to post US$9.89 billion, the second-best monthly performance behind US$10.98 billion recorded in March 2017. Memory exports surged 47.3% to hit US$6.99 billion, while system semiconductors jumped 16.8% to US$2.27 billion.

Exports of computers and peripherals amounted to US$870 million, up 23.6%, while solid state drive (SSD) exports rose 12.2% to register US$450 million. These items showed an upswing in exports for 13 months in a row.

Display exports, meanwhile, fell 13.5% to US$2.05 billion. Likewise, mobile phone exports dropped by 42.2% to US$1.05 billion amid intensifying competition with Chinese manufacturers and more overseas production by South Korean companies.

The exports to the EU and China increased while those to the United States and Vietnam decreased. Those to China rose 25.5% to US$9.42 billion, led by semiconductors, computers and peripherals, and those to the EU reached US$930 million, an increase of 9.3%. Mobile phone exports to the U.S. dropped by 40.8%, dragging the total ICT sector exports to the country down to US$1.52 billion, down 7.7% from a year earlier. Those to Vietnam fell 12.3% to US$1.91 billion, led by semiconductors and mobile phones.

On the import front, Korea saw an increase in semiconductors (15.7%,), displays (0.7%), and computer and peripherals (24.6%) and a decrease in mobile phones (-22.1%).

Imports from China increased 4.5% to US$3.18 billion, Japan 7.7% to US$910 million, and Vietnam 14.6% to US$680 million. Those from the U.S. went down by 2.3% to US$770 million.
 

As a result, the ICT sector’s trade surplus added up to US$8.56 billion last month. For the first four months of this year, the sector recorded US$69.79 billion in exports and US$34.89 billion in imports, generating US$34.9 billion in trade surplus.