South Korea's exports hit record $62 billion in first 20 days of June, led by semiconductor surge

South Korea's exports totaled $62 billion in the first 20 days of June, setting a new record for that period. Semiconductors, buoyed by the AI boom, accounted for more than 40 percent of total exports and drove the overall gain. Full-month exports could surpass $90 billion for the first time ever.

The Korea Customs Service reported Monday that exports from June 1 to 20 — on a customs-clearance, preliminary basis — jumped 60.4 percent from the same period a year earlier to $62 billion, the highest ever for that stretch of the month. The previous record was $54.3 billion, set from March 1 to 20, meaning the record was broken within three months.

The period covered 15 working days, one more than the 14 recorded a year earlier. Adjusted for that difference, the daily average export value rose 49.7 percent to $4.13 billion.

With 7.5 working days remaining in June, full-month exports are on track to exceed $90 billion for the first time ever, provided the mid-month daily average of $4.13 billion holds through the end of the month.

By product, semiconductor exports jumped 188.4 percent to $25.5 billion — a record for the June 1–20 period. Semiconductors' share of total exports rose 18.3 percentage points to 41.2 percent. Semiconductor exports have now set a new monthly record for 14 consecutive months.

Computer peripheral exports surged 293.3 percent, driven by strong demand for AI server SSDs. Passenger vehicle exports rose 2.3 percent and petroleum product exports climbed 39.0 percent.

By destination, exports grew across all major markets: China (86.9 percent), the United States (53.9 percent), Vietnam (75.5 percent), the EU (13.6 percent) and Taiwan (103.6 percent). The top three destinations — China, the US and Vietnam — together accounted for 49.0 percent of total exports, approaching the 50 percent mark.

Imports rose 23.2 percent year-on-year to $44.5 billion. By product, increases were recorded in semiconductors (55.5 percent), crude oil (18.8 percent), semiconductor manufacturing equipment (51.9 percent), machinery (2.8 percent) and gas (8.3 percent).

Energy imports — covering crude oil, gas and coal — climbed 19.9 percent. Crude oil imports, which have been directly affected by the high exchange rate and the war in the Middle East, came in at $5.4 billion, slightly below the $6 billion recorded in the same period of the previous month.

By country of origin, imports increased from China (41.1 percent), the United States (26.0 percent), the EU (16.4 percent), Japan (14.2 percent) and Taiwan (33.8 percent).

With exports outpacing imports, the trade balance posted a surplus of $17.5 billion. The cumulative trade surplus from January through June 20 reached $119.667 billion, surpassing the previous all-time annual record of $95.2 billion set in 2017.