South Korea Nears $1 Trillion Export Year on Chip Sales

By Grace Kim

South Korea’s exports reached $963.7 billion through the 10th of the year, putting the country on course to surpass $1 trillion in annual exports for the first time. Government agencies and trade industry officials reported the cumulative total on the 14th.

Exports have averaged $4.46 billion per day so far this month. At that pace, annual exports are expected to pass $1 trillion around Nov. 19 or 20.

Semiconductors, or chips, led the growth. Total chip exports reached $340.3 billion in the first nine months. China and the United States, South Korea’s two largest export markets, recorded sharp increases in purchases from South Korean suppliers.

China produced the faster overall increase. Chinese imports from South Korea totaled $236.2 billion in January through September, up 75.1% year-on-year, meaning compared with the same period a year earlier.

South Korea ranked as China’s top import source for six consecutive months from April through September. Its cumulative (running-total) share of Chinese imports stood at 9.8% for the first nine months. The ranking marked South Korea’s first return to the position of China’s largest import supplier since 2019, after a seven-year gap.

Chip exports to China jumped 221.5% from the same period last year, reaching $105.4 billion. That chip growth rate exceeded the 75.1% rise in China’s imports from South Korea across all goods. The broader China ranking applies to total imports, while the $105.4 billion figure covers chips alone.

The US market showed a similar pattern. American imports of South Korean goods rose 35.2% year-on-year to $129.2 billion in the first nine months. South Korea ranked as the sixth-largest source of US imports, behind Mexico, Canada, Taiwan, China and Vietnam. The ranking also covers all imported goods rather than semiconductors alone.

Chip exports to the US posted triple-digit growth, or increases above 100%, in every month starting in January. In the latest month reported, shipments surged 497% to $5.81 billion. The US data therefore pair a sixth-place supplier ranking with triple-digit monthly chip growth.

The figures use different reporting windows. The $963.7 billion export total runs through the 10th of the current month, while the $340.3 billion chip figure and the China and US market totals cover January through September. The daily pace is therefore the stated basis for the Nov. 19-20 forecast.

The figures show the market impact of the chip-led increase in South Korea’s two leading markets. China grew faster than the US in total imports from South Korea, 75.1% against 35.2%, while South Korea reclaimed first place among China’s suppliers. In the US, broader imports from South Korea also expanded, while the country ranked sixth among import sources.

What does this change for South Korean exporters?

For South Korean chipmakers, the change is higher sales in both leading destinations: $105.4 billion of chip exports went to China in the first nine months, and US chip shipments rose at triple-digit rates every month from January. South Korea also became China’s top import supplier again after seven years, while ranking sixth among US import sources.

The near-term test for exporters is maintaining the $4.46 billion daily pace recorded so far this month. At that rate, South Korea will cross $1 trillion around Nov. 19 or 20. The forecast therefore depends on holding the current run rate into the second half of November.

The published figures describe aggregate trade rather than company performance. They do not identify individual chipmakers, product categories within semiconductors or shipment volumes separate from dollar values. China took $105.4 billion of chips in the first nine months, while the US recorded the 497% jump in the latest monthly figure.