South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo reported on the 16th that in February this year, South Korea’s information and communication industry exports hit the second-highest level in the same month in previous years. However, due to a sharp drop of more than 30% in exports to China, South Korea's largest export product, semiconductor exports, decreased by 3% compared with the same period last year.
South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy revealed on the 16th that the export volume of the information and communication industry in February was US$16.71 billion, a year-on-year increase of 1.2%. The export value of semiconductors and displays decreased by 3% and 5.1% year-on-year respectively, while the export value of mobile phones (33.3%), computers and peripheral equipment (26.9%), and communication equipment (74.1%) increased significantly.From the perspective of product types, semiconductor exports decreased by 3% year-on-year to US$9.65 billion as falling memory chip prices offset strong demand for high-bandwidth memory products used in generative artificial intelligence chipsets, as well as production reductions caused by the transformation of NAND flash memory processes.
In addition, looking at semiconductor exports, South Korea's exports to Vietnam (35.6%) and the United States (26.5%) increased, but its exports to China dropped significantly by 31.8%. China is a "big player" accounting for about 40% of South Korea's semiconductor exports.
A relevant person from South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy explained that judging from China's market conditions, exports mainly of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) have dropped significantly. "This seems to be due to the improvement of Chinese companies' semiconductor technology and production capabilities." According to analysis, as local Chinese companies increase supply in the domestic market, South Korea's semiconductor exports to China have been affected. (Mang Jiuchen)