Korea's October exports jump 93.7 percent as chip sales surge

South Korea's exports rose 93.7 percent in October from a year earlier to $115.28 billion, the second-highest monthly total on record, the industry ministry said Sunday, as semiconductor shipments more than tripled.

The trade surplus reached $42.5 billion, up $36.5 billion from a year earlier and above $40 billion for a second straight month. Imports climbed 36 percent to $72.78 billion, with energy purchases jumping 63.1 percent to $16.49 billion as crude prices rose.

The ministry said annual exports were all but certain to pass $1 trillion during November, after cumulative shipments from January through October reached $930 billion, the first time they have exceeded $900 billion.

"Exports have continued their solid climb above $110 billion in October, putting the attainment of $1 trillion in annual exports during November firmly in sight," Trade Minister Kim Jung-kwan said in a statement.

Semiconductors led the advance. Chip exports reached $56.44 billion, up 259.4 percent from a year earlier, as global technology companies kept investing in artificial intelligence infrastructure, sustaining high prices and volumes. The ministry said chip exports accounted for roughly half of total October shipments and topped $50 billion for a second consecutive month, following September's record $60.3 billion.

Eighteen of the country's 20 main export products posted gains. Computer exports jumped 496.6 percent to $5.85 billion on server investment and rising demand for server solid-state drives, while electrical equipment rose 74 percent to $1.99 billion, a monthly record, on orders for transformers and cables for AI data centers. Ship exports fell 43.6 percent to $2.64 billion, which the ministry attributed to the comparison with a large offshore plant shipment a year earlier.

By destination, exports to China rose 133.6 percent to $26.98 billion, exceeding $20 billion for a fifth consecutive month, and shipments to the United States climbed 185.8 percent to $24.9 billion. Exports to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations reached $21.33 billion, up 128 percent, and those to the European Union rose 56.4 percent to $8.1 billion.

Kim credited the gains to expanding demand for chips and other advanced products as the AI industry grows, together with Korean companies' competitiveness in global markets despite difficult external conditions.

He also said many smaller and mid-sized exporters were struggling with rising protectionism in major economies, a reshaping of global supply chains and geopolitical instability in the Middle East. The government, he said, will strengthen trade cooperation with major partners to reduce the uncertainty companies face and work to remove export obstacles at home and abroad so that smaller firms share in the growth.