S. Korea's ICT exports rise 9.6% in May on rising demand for chips

Korea's ICT exports soared almost ten percent on year in May and pundits here believe the rise reflects U.S. efforts to secure inventory ahead of a full-blown tariff campaign.

MOON Ji-young explains.

Despite the uncertainty surrounding the Trump administration's tariff policy, South Korea's exports in the ICT sector maintained an upward trend last month, driven by robust chip sales.

According to data released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Thursday, ICT exports in May reached almost 20-point-9 billion dollars, up 9-point-6 percent year on year.

This marks the best performance for any May since records began.

Outbound shipments of semiconductors, the largest export item, surged by more than 21 percent on-year, fueled by strong demand for AI-related chips. That is also a new record high for May.

This performance was also driven by the rebound in fixed prices of major products like DRAM and NAND flash chips, as well as continued solid exports of high-value memory such as HBM.

While mobile phone shipments increased almost 3 percent year-on-year, exports of computers and communications equipment(2 percent ) rose nearly 2 percent.

However, an expert expressed concerns that this growth may be only temporary.

"This is before the full impact of the tariff effects has really kicked in. What we're likely seeing is a move to build up inventory ahead of potential price increases. However, this isn't a normal inventory cycle, and there's a view that once this stock has been accumulated, sales could see a sharp downturn afterwards."

Meanwhile, exports of display panels declined by more than 17 percent.

By country, exports to the U.S. rose more than 7 percent on-year thanks to strong sales of mobile phones, while shipments to Vietnam, the EU, and Japan also climbed.

In contrast, exports to China, South Korea's top export destination, fell 6-point-8 percent due to a decreased demand for chips.

Meanwhile, ICT imports totaled over 11-point-5 billion dollars, resulting in a positive ICT trade balance.

Moon Ji-young, Arirang News.