S. Korea's ICT export rises for 5th month in June

Alsharq Tribune-AFP 

South Korea's export of information and communications technology (ICT) products rose for the fifth straight month due to strong semiconductor demand, government data showed Monday.

The ICT products shipment swelled 4.7 percent from a year earlier to 22.03 billion U.S. dollars in June, maintaining an upward trend since February, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Chip export spiked 11.5 percent to hit a record high of 14.98 billion dollars on robust demand for high-end products such as double data rate 5 (DDR5) and high bandwidth memory (HBM) used in generative artificial intelligence (AI) chipsets.

Shipment for computers and peripherals soared 12.7 percent to 1.45 billion dollars, but communications equipment export shrank 0.7 percent to 200 million dollars.

Display panel shipment dropped 33.7 percent to 1.29 billion dollars, and mobile phone export declined 6.2 percent to 790 million dollars.

Import for ICT products jumped 14.0 percent over the year to 12.41 billion dollars in June, sending the trade surplus in the ICT industry to 9.62 billion dollars.

Import for chips and mobile devices rose in double figures, but those for computers and communication equipment logged a double-digit fall last month.