Mid-sized firms' Q2 exports hit record $35.75b; semiconductors account for 20%

South Korea's mid-sized companies posted record exports in the second quarter of this year, with shipments approaching $36 billion.

According to the Korea Mid-sized Enterprise Federation's second-quarter export trend report released Wednesday, mid-sized firms exported $35.75 billion in the April-June period, up 11.9 percent from $31.95 billion in the same quarter last year.

Both the export volume and growth rate were the highest since the federation began compiling statistics in 2022.

Second-quarter exports also rose 14.5 percent from the previous quarter, marking the fifth consecutive quarter in which mid-sized firms' exports exceeded $30 billion.

Mid-sized companies accounted for 13.0 percent of South Korea's total exports in the second quarter, with 2,061 mid-sized firms participating in overseas sales.

By sector, manufacturing mid-sized firms led with $31.19 billion in exports, up 10.9 percent, while the non-manufacturing segment rose 18.9 percent to $4.56 billion.

Within manufacturing, primary metals ($3.36 billion, up 62.2 percent), medical and precision instruments ($1.04 billion, up 29.6 percent) and chemical products ($3.63 billion, up 29.3 percent) drove the overall increase.

Machinery and equipment ($2.25 billion, down 19.2 percent) and rubber and plastics ($920 million, down 5.2 percent) saw declines.

By product category, bio-health posted the sharpest year-on-year gain at $1.05 billion, up 77.9 percent. Petrochemicals ($2.2 billion, up 24.2 percent), home appliances ($340 million, up 18.9 percent), computers ($60 million, up 18.4 percent) and petroleum products ($500 million, up 16.7 percent) also recorded growth.

Semiconductors, the largest export category by value, rose 10.8 percent to $7.46 billion. Among the 10 major export regions, shipments increased in seven — including Oceania, Latin America and ASEAN — while exports to the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Middle East and China declined.

Kim Hyun-chul, the federation's standing vice chairman, said the organization would work closely with the government and the National Assembly "to build an effective legal, institutional and policy environment that strengthens the global competitiveness of mid-sized companies, so that the momentum of their record-breaking export performance can be sustained."