South Korea's Exports Jump 10% on Surging Global Chip Demand

Outbound shipments from the top 917 of the country's 70,223 exporting firms came to US$128.1 billion as of end-December, up 10.1 percent from a year ago, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Data and Statistics, reports Yonhap news agency.

The growth was primarily led by semiconductors, of which exports rose 9.1 percent on-year.

Exports by medium-sized businesses remained unchanged at $30.9 billion, while those from small companies advanced 10.8 percent on-year to $30.3 billion.

By country, exports to the United States fell 3.8 percent from the same period in 2024, partly due to trade uncertainties stemming from the U.S. President Donald Trump administration's sweeping tariffs.

Outbound shipments to Central America and the Middle East, however, rose by a large margin, 32.2 percent and 19.8 percent, respectively, amid efforts to diversify markets.

"Many companies appear to be still unsure about resuming exports to the U.S. amid lingering tariff uncertainties, including ongoing tensions over a pending bill on the trade deal at the National Assembly," a ministry official said.

Meanwhile, sales by major South Korean conglomerates and their affiliates in North America rose at a double-digit pace in the third quarter despite U.S. import tariffs, industry data showed on Tuesday.

Sixty-seven conglomerates and their 194 affiliates posted combined U.S. sales of 343.8 trillion won (US$235.6 billion) in the July-September period, up 14.1 percent from 301.2 trillion won a year earlier, according to a survey by corporate tracker Leaders Index.

The survey covered companies among the country's top 500 firms by sales that disclosed their third-quarter U.S. sales.

Over the same period, the surveyed firms' total global sales rose 8 percent on-year to 1,110.4 trillion won, increasing the share of U.S. sales in overall revenue to 31 percent from 29.3 percent.

By sector, information technology (IT) and electronics firms reported the strongest growth, with U.S. sales jumping 20.7 percent on-year to 157.9 trillion won in the third quarter.

SK hynix's U.S. sales surged 65.5 percent to 45.2 trillion won, while Samsung Electronics Co.'s rose 10.2 percent to 93.3 trillion won during the same period.

- IANS