South Korea's ICT exports hit a monthly record in September.... mainly on the back of robust shipments of semiconductors.
Kim Ji-yeon reports.
A report released on Wednesday by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy shows South Korea's ICT exports rose by more than five-percent on-year in September to nearly 20-point-three billion U.S. dollars,... the second straight month it has surpassed the 20-billion dollar mark.
The nation's ICT trade balance also marked its highest monthly surplus of around 12-point-three billion dollars last month... as ICT imports stood at eight-billion dollars.
The lion's share of the exports was semiconductors... which also recorded a monthly high in September of a combined 12-and-a-half-billion dollars... a near 27 percent increase on-year.
It's the fifth straight month it has topped the ten billion dollar mark.
Shipments of memory chips and DRAMs soared by 44-and-a-half percent and by more than 54-percent on-year respectively.
Exports of displays rose more than 11-percent on-year... to nearly 2-point-6-billion dollars due to an increase in OLED panel shipments.
However, the report notes how exports of LCD large panel displays dwindled due to heightened competition from Chinese manufacturers.
Smartphone exports jumped nearly 37-percent on-year last month to nearly one-point-2-billion dollars... despite having the disadvantage of having to cater to a highly saturated market.
Exports of computers rose more than 12-percent on-year to 110-million dollars.
By region, exports to China marked a record-high at 11-point-six billion dollars in September, a near 17 percent increase from the same month last year.
Kim Ji-yeon, Arirang News.