Semiconductors likely to lead Korea’s export growth for 2nd month

South Korea’s semiconductor exports accelerated their recovery in the first 20 days of November, data showed on Tuesday, adding to hopes that Asia’s fourth-largest economy may see a second month of overseas sales increase.

Semiconductor exports rose 2.4% in the Nov. 1-20 period from a year earlier, helping the country's total overseas sales grow 2.2% to $33.8 billion in the 20 days, according to the customs office.

Global sales of the electronic components gained 1.3% in the first 10 days of the month, raising prospects of a long-awaited recovery in the country’s biggest export items. South Korea is home to the world’s two largest memory chipmakers – Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc.

The bright outlook boosted the tech giants' share prices in November. Samsung gained 8.7% during the Nov. 1-20 period, while SK Hynix advanced 13%.

Samsung and SK Hynix expected rapid growth in their high-bandwidth memory (HBM) sales as US fabless chip designer Nvidia Corp. introduced its new artificial intelligence chipset.   

Semiconductor exports fell by a revised 4.8% in October from a year earlier, far narrower than a 14.6% decline the previous month, helping overall overseas sales rise for the first time in 13 months, according to data from the Korea Customs Service last week.

EXPORTS TO US, VIETNAM UP

South Korea’s exports to the US, the world’s largest economy rose 15.7% to $6.6 billion in the first 20 days of November. Sales to Vietnam, a key overseas production base of South Korean companies, gained 1.4% to $3.1 billion.

On the other hand, shipments to China, South Korea’s top overseas market, slumped 2.4% to $7.2 billion, while sales exports to the European Union fell 4.1% to $3.2 billion.

South Korea’s imports fell 6.2% to $35.2 billion in the Nov. 1-20 period from a year earlier with intakes of gas down 30.2%, resulting in a trade deficit of $1.4 billion.

That ballooned the country’s total trade deficit to $19.5 billion so far this year.

Write to Kyung-Min Kang at kkm1026@hankyung.com
 
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.