Vehicle exports await loading at a port in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, July 25. Yonhap By Nam Hyun-woo Semiconductors and automobiles accounted for a record 31.7 percent of Korea’s total exports during the second quarter of this year, a tally showed, Sunday. According to data from the Korea International Trade Association, semiconductors accounted for 20.3 percent of the country’s outbound shipments from April to June, followed by automobiles at 11.4 percent. Combined, chips and cars accounted for 31.7 percent of total exports, marking the highest contribution ever. The previous record was 29.7 percent in the first quarter of this year. The combined value of exports from these two segments reached $54.3 billion, setting a new quarterly record. The improvements are attributable to the recovery of the semiconductor market. Last year, chips accounted for 13.6 percent and 14.5 percent of total exports in the first and the second quarters, respectively, but improvements in average selling prices and soaring memory demand this year resulted in a rebound, lifting the share to 19 percent in the first quarter and 20.3 percent in the second quarter. Market analysts forecast a solid recovery in semiconductor demand in the second half of this year, driven by rising memory chip prices and the planned deliveries of memory chips for artificial intelligence (AI) processors. Korea’s leading chip suppliers, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, reported strong earnings for the second quarter and forecast stable demand growth in advanced memory chips for AI servers and on-device AI services in the second half of the year. Samsung Electronics' LPDDR5X DRAM / Courtesy of Samsung Electronics Automobile exports also showed a stable trajectory in the second quarter, despite a protracted slowdown in global electric vehicle (EV) demand. Automobile exports in money terms rose to a quarterly record of $19.5 billion in the second quarter. Industry officials are optimistic that vehicle exports will soon surpass the $20 billion mark, marking a significant milestone 17 years after outbound quarterly car shipments first exceeded $10 billion in the fourth quarter of 2007 to $10.6 billion. Despite a slowdown in EV demand this year, premium models like hybrid vehicles and SUVs have supported stable performance, especially in the North American market. Attention is focused on whether domestic carmakers can sustain their exports in the second half of the year amid persistently high interest rates and increasing competition from global rivals. According to the Korea Automobile & Mobility Association, Korean carmakers exported 199,018 vehicles in July, down 13.4 percent from a year earlier and 21.1 percent lower compared to June. The total number of vehicles exported from January to July this year reached 1.67 million units, up 1 percent from the same period last year, but the recent downward trend suggests the year-end figure may be lower than that of last year.
