South Korea experienced a significant surge in exports, reaching a new monthly peak of $87.8 billion in May, marking a 53% increase from the previous year. The Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Resources revealed that this is the third consecutive month where exports have exceeded $80 billion. Imports also saw a rise of 20.8%, totaling $60.8 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $26.95 billion.
The semiconductor industry played a pivotal role in driving exports, particularly benefiting from the global tech giants’ continuous investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure. Chip exports from Seoul skyrocketed by 169.4% to a record monthly high of $37.2 billion in May, with semiconductor products constituting over 42% of the total exports for the month. Notably, outbound shipments of D-RAMs and NAND flash memory surged by 369.8% and 206.8%, amounting to $18.6 billion and $1.7 billion, respectively.
Furthermore, computer exports witnessed a remarkable increase of 290.7% to $4.18 billion due to the surging global demand for solid-state drives for AI servers. The country also saw growth in exports of wireless communications equipment, displays, petroleum products, biohealth products, cosmetics, agro-fisheries products, and ship exports. The combined trade surplus for the first five months of the year reached $101.9 billion, surpassing the previous annual record set in 2017.
