South Korea's early-June exports hit record $28.6B; semiconductors surge 206%

South Korea's exports in the first 10 days of June surged more than 80 percent from a year earlier, setting an all-time record for the period, driven by a semiconductor boom. Semiconductor exports more than quadrupled, also hitting a record for the June 1–10 window and topping $10 billion for the first time.

A prolonged Middle East war and a stronger won-dollar exchange rate pushed energy import costs up nearly 40 percent.

The Korea Customs Service reported Thursday that exports from June 1 to 10 reached $28.6 billion on a preliminary customs-clearance basis, up 85.9 percent from a year earlier and the highest ever recorded for that period. The previous record was $25.2 billion set in the April 1–10 window, a mark that stood for just two months.

The period had seven working days, compared with 5.5 days a year earlier. On a daily average basis, exports came to $4.09 billion, up 46.1 percent.

By product, semiconductor exports jumped 205.8 percent to $11.1 billion. Semiconductors accounted for 38.7 percent of total exports, up 15.1 percentage points from a year ago. The sector's share had historically hovered around 20 percent before climbing to a record 42.3 percent last month.

Semiconductors have now posted record results for their respective month for 14 consecutive months. Analysts attribute the boom to rising capital expenditure by major technology companies in the United States and China, which has sustained demand for memory chips and kept prices on an upward trend.

Petroleum product exports rose sharply, up 68.7 percent, while passenger car exports — the country's second-largest export category — grew 25.4 percent. Computer peripheral exports jumped 259.4 percent.

By destination, exports rose across all major markets: China (up 101.4 percent), the United States (54.4 percent), Vietnam (102.9 percent), the EU (46.0 percent) and Taiwan (134.0 percent). The top three markets — China, the United States and Vietnam — together accounted for 47.3 percent of total exports.

Imports totaled $23.4 billion, up 35.6 percent from a year earlier.

By product, imports rose in semiconductors (up 71.3 percent), crude oil (42.9 percent), semiconductor manufacturing equipment (52.2 percent), machinery (21.2 percent) and gas (13.7 percent).

Energy imports — covering crude oil, gas and coal — rose 39.9 percent. Crude oil imports climbed 42.9 percent to $3 billion, the first time the figure has exceeded that threshold since August 2024, nearly one year and 10 months ago. The increase reflects higher global oil prices driven by the Middle East war and the continued strength of the dollar against the won.

By country, imports increased from China (up 57.4 percent), the United States (34.6 percent), the EU (20.9 percent), Japan (31.3 percent) and Taiwan (43.6 percent).

With exports outpacing imports, South Korea posted a trade surplus of $5.3 billion for the period.