Reviving Semiconductors... Export Market Trends Rise Upward (Comprehensive)

Exports have started to show an upward trend. Export value recorded double-digit growth for the first time in 20 months, and semiconductor exports reached their highest level in about six years.

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According to the 'January Export-Import Trends' announced by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on the 1st, last month's export value was recorded at $54.69 billion. Compared to $46.34 billion in January last year, this is an 18% increase. The double-digit export growth rate was recorded for the first time in 20 months since May 2022, when it was 21.4%. Recent export trends also showed an upward curve with four consecutive months of growth: 4.9% in October, 7.4% in November, and 5.0% in December.

Other export indicators also showed positive signs. The average daily export value, considering working days, was $2.28 billion, up 5.7% from $2.16 billion in January last year. Export volume also increased by 14.7%, maintaining a positive trend for five consecutive months.

The export growth was led by the semiconductor sector. Semiconductor exports amounted to $9.37 billion, marking three consecutive months of increase following $9.52 billion in November and $11.03 billion in December. The growth was particularly notable, with semiconductor exports rising 56.2% compared to the same month last year. This is the highest increase in 73 months since December 2017, when exports grew by 64.9%.

The semiconductor market is clearly recovering, centered on the memory semiconductor market. Recently, the memory semiconductor market has seen price increases due to improved supply and demand, and expanded sales of High Bandwidth Memory (HBM). Memory semiconductor exports in January increased by 90.5%, significantly outpacing the 26.9% growth in non-memory semiconductors. Additionally, increased memory content in mobile products and expanded AI server investments have improved supply and demand conditions, contributing to this growth.

Automobile exports also showed a significant increase of 24.8%, reaching $6.2 billion. This marks 19 consecutive months of positive growth and is the highest January performance on record. The strong performance was driven by exports of eco-friendly vehicles and large sport utility vehicles (SUVs), which have higher export unit prices. Electric vehicle exports increased by 15.8%, supporting the overall export growth.

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Other items also showed strong performance. Among the 15 major export items, exports of 13 items increased. Notable examples include general machinery (14.5%), home appliances (14.2%), displays (2.1%), and ships (76.0%). Computer exports increased by 37.2%, breaking an 18-month negative streak since June 2022.

By region, exports increased in 8 out of the 9 major export markets. Exports to China, Korea's largest export destination, grew by 16.1% to $10.7 billion. Despite weakness in the petrochemical sector, improvements in semiconductor and computer exports turned the trend positive for the first time in 20 months since May 2022, when it was 1.3%. Exports to the United States increased by 26.9% to $10.2 billion, marking the highest January performance. Exports to India (5.6%), ASEAN (5.8%), and Japan (10.6%) also increased for four consecutive months.

Last month's imports were $54.39 billion, down 7.8%. Energy imports decreased by 16.3% due to a 41.9% drop in gas and an 8.2% decline in coal, despite a 6.0% increase in crude oil. Non-energy imports shrank by 4.7%.

The trade balance recorded a surplus of $300 million, marking eight consecutive months of surplus since June last year.

The government evaluated that a green light has been lit for achieving this year's export performance targets. In its New Year's work plan, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy set this year's export target at $700 billion, exceeding the record high of $683.6 billion in 2022. To achieve this, the government plans to promptly establish a cross-ministerial export expansion strategy. Trade finance will be allocated at a record high of 355 trillion won, with 1 trillion won dedicated solely to export marketing.

Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Ahn Deok-geun emphasized, "With exports to China turning positive, the four puzzles of export growth, trade balance surplus, and semiconductor export growth have perfectly aligned," adding, "The clear recovery trend shown by our exports will be supported by the government's full-scale efforts to consolidate cross-ministerial policy capabilities to achieve the challenging goal of the highest export performance this year."

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