Key points
- Korea's chip exports jumped 259% to $56.4 billion
- A holiday shift boosted Korea's October year-over-year comparison
- Korea's trade minister expects annual exports to reach $1 trillion in November
South Korea exported $56.4 billion of semiconductors in October, up 259.4% from a year earlier, as AI spending kept demand for memory chips high. Total exports rose 93.7% to $115.3 billion, the second-highest monthly figure on record after September, according to preliminary figures the trade ministry released on November 1.
Chips made up about 49% of everything Korea shipped abroad, by our calculations. The country is home to two of the world's biggest memory makers, Samsung Electronics (005930) and SK Hynix (000660).
The chip share has been close to half for months. It was 47.5% in August and 49.9% in September, Kyunghyang Shinmun reported. The paper also noted industry concerns that Chinese memory makers such as CXMT are catching up.
Memory prices and AI servers drove the jump
The ministry credited heavy AI spending by big tech companies with keeping chip export prices and volumes high, Seoul Economic Daily reported. Demand for DRAM still outstrips supply, and contract prices for both DRAM and NAND flash continue to rise, the ministry said, according to Asia Economy.
Other AI-related exports surged too. Computer exports, which include solid-state drives for servers, rose 496.6% to $5.85 billion. Exports of electrical equipment such as transformers and cables for AI data centers rose 74% to $1.99 billion, a monthly record.
Exports outside of chips rose 34%. Eighteen of Korea's 20 main export products grew, with ships and household goods the exceptions.
A holiday shift makes October look bigger
Part of the 93.7% jump comes from the calendar. The Chuseok holiday fell in October last year and in September this year, so this October had more working days. Adjusted for working days, average daily exports rose 76% to $5.24 billion.
That's still the second-best daily pace on record. September holds the top spot at $5.63 billion a day, according to the ministry. September also holds the monthly record, at $121.1 billion in total exports and about $60.3 billion in chips.
Korea is about $70 billion from $1 trillion
Exports from January through October came to $930 billion, up 60.6% from a year earlier. That leaves about $70 billion to reach $1 trillion for the year.
"With our exports again growing solidly above $110 billion in October, reaching $1 trillion in annual exports in November now looks all but certain," Trade Minister Kim Jung-kwan said.
That would make Korea the fourth country to export $1 trillion in a year, after the US, China, and Germany, Kyunghyang reported.
Korea's two biggest markets both more than doubled. Exports to China rose 133.6% to $26.98 billion, and exports to the US rose 185.8% to $24.9 billion. Chips, computers, and electrical equipment led the US gain, Yonhap reported.
The surge was already visible in September, when chip exports for the first 20 days were up 259% from a year earlier. November's figures, due at the start of December, should show whether Korea crossed $1 trillion.
