Korea’s exports at 22-month high in May on chips, cars

South Korea’s exports hit a 22-month high in May, led by strong shipments of semiconductors and automobiles abroad, adding to hopes that overseas sales are expected to lead a recovery in Asia’s fourth-largest economy.

Exports rose 11.7% to $58.2 billion, the largest since July 2022, last month from a year earlier, extending an annual growth streak to eight months, showed data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Saturday.

"Exports are building a strong upward momentum while having led economic growth at the front line since the second half of last year," said Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Ahn Dukgeun in a statement. "The government will provide all-out support for the upward trend to continue through the year-end."

Imports dipped 2% to $53.2 billion in May, generating a trade surplus of $5 billion, the largest since December 2020. That ramped up the surplus to $15.5 billion in the first five months, compared with a deficit of $27.5 billion in the same period of 2023.

EXPORTS OF MEMORY CHIPS, INCLUDING HBM, MORE THAN DOUBLE

Overseas sales of semiconductors, the country’s top export item, soared 54.5% to $11.4 billion in May on-year. South Korea is home to the world’s two largest memory chipmakers – Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc.

Shipments of memory chips including high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips – semiconductors for artificial intelligence – more than doubled to $6.9 billion, while those of non-memory products 14.3% to $4.5 billion.

Auto exports grew 4.8% to $6.5 billion thanks to strong overseas sales of pricier models such as sport utility vehicles and healthy global demand for hybrid cars. Hyundai Motor Group, the world’s third-largest automaker including Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp. is headquartered in the country.

Last month, South Korea revised up the country’s car and auto parts export targets to $100 billion this year.

Vessel exports more than doubled to $2.1 billion on firm sales of high-end models such as container ships and liquefied natural gas carriers.

Overseas sales of computers soared 48.4% to $1 billion with solid-state drive (SSD) exports up 60.6% as NAND manufacturers cut output and corporate investments in servers grew.

Exports of refiled oils increased 8.4% to $4.6 billion and shipments of petrochemicals grew 7.4% to $4.1 billion.

SALES TO CHINA, US UP

Shipments to major markets such as China and the US, the world’s top two economies, advanced.

Sales to China, South Korea’s largest overseas market rose 7.6% to $11.4 billion with exports of semiconductors and petrochemicals up 47% and 10.2%, respectively.

Exports to the US, the world’s biggest economy, grew 15.6% to $10.9 billion, extending the rising streak to 10 months.

Shipments of cars increased 37.8% to $2.7 billion, while those of chips and computers surged 234% and 193.7%, respectively.

Sales to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) rose 21.9% to $10.2 billion with semiconductor exports up 50.4%. Shipments to India, Asia’s third-largest economy, advanced 24.8% to $1.7 billion.

Write to Yeong-Hyo Jeong at hugh@hankyung.com
 
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.