South Korea's ICT exports more than double in March on chip demand

South Korea's exports of information and communication technology (ICT) products more than doubled in March from a year earlier, driven by strong semiconductor demand amid the global artificial intelligence (AI) boom, government data showed Tuesday.

Outbound ICT shipments reached US$43.51 billion last month, up from $20.52 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Science and ICT.

This marks the first time that monthly ICT exports have exceeded $40 billion for the month of March.

Imports rose 32.2 percent on-year to $16.15 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $27.36 billion in the sector.

By product, semiconductor exports surged 151 percent to $32.84 billion from $13.06 billion a year earlier, supported by robust demand from global AI data centers.

Smartphone exports jumped 57 percent on-year to $1.54 billion in March, driven by strong sales of newly launched premium models.

Shipments of computers and related equipment nearly tripled to $3.59 billion from $1.31 billion, reflecting rising demand for solid-state drives (SSDs) used in AI data centers.

In contrast, exports of display panels fell 9.3 percent to $1.49 billion, weighed down by weak demand for organic light-emitting diode (OLED) products in the IT sector.

By destination, exports to the United States nearly tripled to $8 billion from $2.77 billion a year earlier, led by strong sales of chips, smartphones and computers.

Exports to China, including Hong Kong, more than doubled to $17.66 billion from $7.33 billion, also driven primarily by semiconductor demand.