▲ Volume and Growth Rate of Major Export Items

Semiconductor exports surpass $13 billion, recording an all-time high
Maintaining high price levels → Continued mid-to-long-term growth expected

ICT exports in March, including semiconductors and wireless communications, recorded record-breaking performance.

According to the import and export trends for March 2022 announced by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on the 1st, semiconductors amounted to $13.12 billion, a 38% increase compared to the same period last year, and displays amounted to $2.093 billion, a 48.4% increase compared to the same period last year. Computers increased by 33% year-on-year to $1.681 billion, and wireless communication devices increased by 44.5% year-on-year to $1.847 billion.

The 'semiconductor' sector continued its strong performance of $10 billion for 11 consecutive months, breaking its record despite the shortage of working days (1.5 days) due to the presidential election.

With memory prices remaining high compared to the previous year (such as DRAM fixed prices), exports increased for 21 consecutive months due to a combination of factors including strong mobile demand in China and improved yields resulting from favorable foundry market conditions.

'Display' has grown for 12 consecutive months due to the transition of the industry structure to OLED, which possesses a technological advantage, and the expansion of shipments of high-value products such as foldable and low-power (LTPO) OLEDs.

'Wireless communication devices' achieved its highest performance in four years since November 2017, as the favorable trend continued due to the launch of new smartphones and the preference for domestic components.

'Computer' exports reached the highest level ever for the month of March as demand for SSDs continued to expand due to data center investments in North America and China, while prices rose due to component supply disruptions.

Although demand for home appliance replacements has slowed somewhat due to interest rate hikes and inflation in major countries, the market preference for premium home appliances from Korean companies has continued, leading to increased exports to the U.S. and other countries and reaching a six-month consecutive growth trend.

The semiconductor industry is expected to continue growing in the mid-to-long term, with global shortages persisting and prices remaining high due to increasing demand driven by the spread of AI and big data.