South Korea March exports up for sixth month on chip sales

A view shows Samsung Electronics’ chip production plant at Pyeongtaek, South Korea, in this handout picture obtained by Reuters on September 7, 2022. Samsung Electronics/Handout via REUTERS/File photo

SEOUL  — Robust demand for South Korean chips helped Asia’s fourth-largest economy post export growth for a sixth consecutive month in March, albeit at a pace slightly slower than expected, data showed on Monday.

Exports rose 3.1 percent from the same period a year prior to $56.56 billion, missing a gain of 5.2 percent tipped in a Reuters poll of economists.

A month earlier, exports rose 4.8 percent on year, hinting at recovery in economic momentum even as consumer sentiment remained fragile due to higher produce prices.

READ: South Korea’s economy stronger than expected on exports recovery

Imports declined 12.3 percent in March from the same month a year earlier to $52.28 billion, deeper than a 8.1 percent fall seen in the poll but easing slightly from a 13.1 percent drop in February.

Overseas sales of chips grew for a fifth successive month, rising 35.7 percent and logging the best performance by value in two years, trade ministry data showed.

Increasing demand for artificial intelligence-related memory is driving semiconductor sales, as the world’s two biggest makers of memory chips – Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix – flagged improving chip demand for the year ahead.