South Korea exports hit second-highest ever as chip shipments surge

South Korea’s monthly exports reached their second-highest level on record, driven by a sustained surge in semiconductor shipments.

The milestone underscores the accelerating pace of global demand for chips, particularly for data center and artificial intelligence applications, which have become the primary growth engine for the country’s trade balance.

Preliminary figures for the first ten days of July further confirmed this trend, showing outbound shipments jumping 54% compared to the same period last year.

This latest data point follows a period of exceptional momentum for South Korean exporters.

In June, the nation’s export engine accelerated to its most powerful pace in nearly five decades, with chip exports surging 199% year-on-year.

Preliminary figures for the first ten days of July further confirmed this trend, showing outbound shipments jumping 54% compared to the same period last year.

The consistency of these high-growth figures suggests that the semiconductor upcycle is not a short-lived anomaly but a structural shift in global supply chains.