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South Korean vehicle exports surged to a record-high 48% in March buoyed by eco-friendly vehicles, while electronic (ICT) gadget exports plunged 32.2%
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Exports of eco-friendly cars alone jumped 94.7% to US$2.27 billion, while the number of such vehicles exported surged 79.5% to 71,781 units
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ICT goods such as semiconductors, PCs, mobile phones and other gadgets fell 2% y-o-y to $15.8 billion, pulled down by a 33.9% plunge in chip export to $8.7 billion
Two of South Korea’s major exports – automotive and information and communications technology (ICT) goods – had mixed fortunes when March car exports hit a record high while ICT exports plunged, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MTIE) said.
MTIE was cited in a Xinhua report as saying Korea’s record automotive exports surged last month amid robust demand for eco-friendly vehicles.
Government data showed on Monday, April 17, that the number of vehicles exported by was 262,341 in March, up 48.0% from the same month last year.
Exports of eco-friendly cars jumped 94.7% to US$2.27 billion, while the number of such vehicles exported surged 79.5% to 71,781 units. Xinhua said both figures reached highs last month.
The number of vehicles built in local factories climbed 35.6% year on year to 409,806, topping 400,000 units in six years, as a supply disruption eased for semiconductors used in car-making.
The number of South Korean cars sold domestically, including locally made and imported units, rose 19.6% y-o-y to 165,851 in March, Xinhua said.
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Korea’s buoyant car exports were the exception from a 13.6% y-o-y decline in the country’s other exports to $55.1 billion during that month, while its imports fell 6.4% to $59.8 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $4.6 billion, MTIE said.
The country’s other major export, ICT goods ranging from electronics products such as semiconductors and personal computers to mobile phones and other gadgets dived 32.2% y-o-y to $15.8 billion while imports of similar goods fell 7.9% to $11.9 billion. The trade balance stood at a surplus of $4 billion.
It was the ninth consecutive month of ICT export contraction as the global economic downturn and semiconductor industry slowdown continued, but its export value recovered to the $15 billion threshold for the first time in three months, the ministry said.
Semiconductor shipments fell 33.9% to $8.7 billion and unit price continued to drop, dragging down exports of system chips to $3.6 billion, down 18.4% y-o-y, and memory chips to $4.6 billion, down 44.3% as well.
Display exports crashed 41.4% to $1.4 billion as lower demand for downstream devices shrank shipments of OLED to $0.9 billion, down 35.9%, while reduced domestic production sank LCD shipments 53.3% to $300 million.
Mobile phone exports slid 49.3% to $800 million due to slow global demand for devices, and phone parts fell 34.1% to $600 million.
MTIE said exports of computers and peripherals plunged 52.5% to $900 million as shipments contracted amid a 62.1% collapse in demand for electronic devices and solid-state drives (SSDs) for datacenters and servers to $500 million.
Communications equipment shipments fell 9.2% to $200 million sluggish global economy dampened overall demand despite a 90.9% upsurge in 5G infrastructure export to India and a 9.6% increase shipments to Vietnam.
By region, shipments to China and Hong Kong dived 40.1% to $6.3 billion as demand for major items such as semiconductors, displays and mobile phones diminished.
Shipments to Vietnam fell 20.0% to $2.8 billion on weak demand from downstream industries and falling unit prices of core parts, reducing shipments of semiconductors and displays.
For the US, exports fell 33.3% to $1.9 billion despite secondary battery shipments rising 18.8% to $400 million) as those of semiconductors, computers and peripherals dropped.
Exports to the EU of semiconductors, displays and mobile phones slumped 30.2% to $1.0 billion.
Exports to Japan fell 10.7% to $400 million despite demand for secondary batteries rising 0.5% to $40 million and semiconductors up 38.3% to $20 million, versus a contraction in display exports.
