South Korea Exports Hit Record $61.6 Billion as Chip Sales Soar

South Korea exported a record $61.6 billion of goods in the first 20 days of October, more than double the same period a year earlier, as semiconductor shipments hit their own record in the global build out of AI data centres. The Korea Customs Service released the preliminary figures on Wednesday, October 21.

Exports rose 105.4 percent year on year. The comparison flatters the headline: this year's window held 13 working days against 10.5 a year earlier. Adjusted for working days, daily average exports still set a record at $4.74 billion a day, up 65.9 percent from $2.86 billion and above the previous record of $4.6 billion set in September.

Chips carry the number

Semiconductor exports jumped 222.5 percent to a record $27.5 billion, and chips alone made up 44.7 percent of everything South Korea sold abroad in the window, up 16.2 percentage points from a year earlier. Computer peripherals rose 424.0 percent, petroleum products rose 68.3 percent to $3.94 billion, passenger cars rose 40.9 percent to $3.35 billion and steel products rose 42.6 percent to $2.58 billion.

By destination, exports to China rose 154.4 percent to $16.6 billion and exports to the United States rose 154.9 percent to $10.7 billion. Shipments to Vietnam rose 74.6 percent and to the European Union 78.2 percent. China, the United States and Vietnam together took 52.7 percent of all exports.

The other side of the ledger

Imports rose 42.8 percent to $47.1 billion, lifted by semiconductors, crude oil, gas and machinery, leaving a trade surplus of $14.5 billion for the 20 days. Cumulative exports for the year reached $876.3 billion, which puts the $1 trillion annual mark within reach as early as next month if the current pace holds, Korean reporting on the release said.

Why it matters

The figures show how far the AI investment boom now runs through one country's trade accounts. Almost half of South Korea's exports are chips, which is strength and exposure at once. Hours after the customs release, on Thursday morning in Seoul, investors sold the same chip names hard: Samsung Electronics and SK hynix fell around three percent as Asian markets slid on doubts about AI spending returns, and the Bank of Korea held its base rate at 3.00 percent. Record orders and falling share prices can both be true when buyers are asking how long the boom lasts.

What happens next

The final ten days of October will show whether the pace survives without the help of extra working days. The full month customs release follows at the start of November, with the company split between Samsung and SK hynix and the share of high bandwidth memory the detail traders will read first.