Exports of memory chips from South Korea increased for the first time in 16 months – Kommersant

Exports of memory chips from South Korea amounted to $4.5 billion in October, which is 1% more than last year, the agency reports. “Yonhap” with reference to data Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy of the country. This is the first case in 16 months of growth in sales of South Korean memory chips abroad. In September it fell by 18%.

As noted in the ministry’s press release, the slight increase in the export of memory chips is primarily due to their rise in price. Thus, the average price for 8-gigabit DRAM in October reached $1.50 compared to the purchase price of $1.31 recorded in the third quarter.

Semiconductor exports overall continue to decline, although memory chips contributed to a decline of just 4.7% in October compared with last year. This is the best figure since the beginning of the year. Sales of displays, primarily OLED displays for mobile devices, increased by 13.1%, to $2.3 billion. But all other exports continued to fall. Thus, exports of mobile phones fell by 3.3%, personal computers – by 26.2%, and communications equipment – by 23.4%.

As a result, the total volume of exports of digital and communication technologies (ICT) at the end of October amounted to $17 billion, which is 4.5% lower than last year. This is the 16th consecutive month of decline in South Korean ICT exports.

Kirill Sarkhanyants