S. Korea’s ICT exports hit monthly high on brisk chip sales in January
2018.02.13 16:51:28 2018.02.13 16:51:49
이미지 확대According to data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, outbound shipments of ICT products gained 28.1 percent on-year to a fresh monthly high of $17.7 billion in January. The shipment is the highest tallied so far for January and tops the previous record of $14.42 billion posted in January of 2015. It also marks the 14th straight month for Korea to post a double-digit on-year increase.
Trade surplus in the ICT sector reached $8.38 billion in January as the value of exports significantly outweighed that of imports. Data showed that imports of ICT products from major markets reached $9.33 billion last month.
Korea’s exports of ICT products rose on brisk sales of semiconductors, computers and related equipment.
By item, overseas shipments of semiconductors reached $9.86 billion in January, topping $9 billion for a fifth straight month, led by a rise in demand for memory chips and system chips. Exports of major memory chip items such as dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), non-volatile storage (NAND) flash, and multi-chip package rose evenly last month, contributing to strong exports.
Overseas shipments of computers and related equipment also reached $930 million in January, marking growth for a tenth straight month led by strong demand for solid state drives (SSDs).
Exports of display panels, however, fell 5.9 percent on-year in January to $2.29 billion, data showed. Overseas shipments of mobile handsets also decreased 8.3 percent to $1.39 billion last month from a year earlier.
Exports of finished mobile handsets fell due to growing competition in the global market but exports of related parts such as camera modules increased, said a government official.
By region, ICT exports to major markets grew evenly.
By Ko Jae-man and Lee Eun-joo
[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]
