Korean Media: South Korea's Exports Hit All-Time High in March, Surging 64.2% to China!
On May 4, Korean media outlet Newdaily published an article stating that South Korea’s exports reached $86.13 billion in March, up 48.3% year-on-year, marking the first time ever exceeding the $80 billion threshold. Imports amounted to $60.4 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $25.74 billion—also a record high. This marks the 14th consecutive month of trade surplus since February of last year.
The strong performance was driven by robust growth in semiconductor exports. Semiconductor exports rose 151.4% year-on-year to $32.83 billion, surpassing the $30 billion mark for the first time. The main drivers were rising memory prices and increased investment in AI servers.
Computer exports also reached $3.42 billion, up 189.2% year-on-year, primarily due to growing demand for enterprise-grade solid-state drives. Charging batteries performed strongly as well, increasing by 36.0% to $870 million.
Due to logistics disruptions caused by the Middle East conflict, auto exports grew only slightly by 2.2% to $6.37 billion. While internal combustion engine vehicle exports declined, gains in electric and hybrid vehicle exports offset the overall downturn.
Amid soaring oil prices, petroleum product exports reached $5.1 billion, up 54.9% year-on-year.
By region, most major markets showed upward trends. Exports to China surged 64.2% to $16.51 billion, maintaining growth momentum for five consecutive months; exports to the U.S. rose 47.1% to $16.34 billion. Exports to ASEAN and the EU increased by 34.3% and 19.3%, respectively.
On the other hand, exports to the Middle East dropped sharply by 49.1% to $900 million.
Looking at import trends, total imports in March rose to $60.4 billion, but energy imports fell 7% to $9.37 billion. Despite soaring oil prices, crude oil imports declined to $6 billion, down 5%, while non-energy imports climbed to $51 billion, up 17.9%. Among them, semiconductor imports reached $8.6 billion, up 34.8%, and semiconductor equipment imports totaled $2.8 billion, up 4.4%.
As a result, South Korea’s trade surplus in March reached $25.74 billion, an increase of $21.01 billion compared to the same period last year—setting a new record for this time of year. This is also the 14th consecutive month of trade surplus since February of last year.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1864223612378186/
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