Semiconductor exports hit record high in 2017

Home > Business > Industry

print dictionary print

Semiconductor exports hit record high in 2017

Exports of semiconductors produced by Korean firms reached a record high last year on soaring prices and firm demand, customs data showed on Friday.

The outbound shipment of chips reached $99.71 billion last year, sharply up 60.2 percent from the $62.23 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Korea Customs Service.

The 2017 tally marks the highest-ever for any single item, the data showed.

Last year’s sharp growth in exports was led by high-end and high-capacity memory chips.

Exports of chips to China jumped 62.4 percent on-year to reach $39.35 billion last year, making the country the No.1 buyer of Korean chips.

Vietnam also bought $9.26 billion worth of chips produced by Korean firms, more than doubling the amount from a year earlier, the data showed.

The customs office expects exports of chips to continue rising on the back of firm demand this year.

In the first two months of 2018, chip exports soared 47.3 percent on-year to reach $19.01 billion, the data showed.

The data also showed that the portion of chip exports against the country’s overall outbound shipments stood at 20.4 percent during the fourth quarter of last year, sharply up from 15.5 percent, 15.7 percent and 17.8 percent in the first, second and third quarters of last year, respectively.

In 2017, the overall portion of chip exports to total exports reached 17.4 percent, up from 12.6 percent in 2016, the data showed.


Yonhap
Log in to Twitter or Facebook account to connect
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
help-image Social comment?
s
lock icon

To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.

Standards Board Policy (0/250자)