SEOUL, June 12 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's export of the information and communications technology (ICT) products rose for the fourth consecutive month owing to strong demand for locally-made semiconductors, government data showed Thursday.
The ICT products shipment swelled 9.6 percent from a year earlier to 20.88 billion U.S. dollars in May, maintaining an upward trend since February, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
Chip export spiked 21.2 percent to 13.80 billion dollars due to robust demand for high-end products such as double data rate 5 (DDR5) and high bandwidth memory (HBM) product used in generative artificial intelligence (AI) chipsets.
Display panel shipment dropped 17.5 percent to 1.52 billion dollars, but mobile phone export grew 2.8 percent to 1.05 billion dollars.
Shipment for computers and peripherals added 1.7 percent to 1.20 billion dollars, while communications equipment export jumped 10.2 percent to 200 million dollars.
Import for ICT products climbed 0.5 percent over the year to 11.53 billion dollars in May, sending the trade surplus in the ICT industry to 9.35 billion dollars.
Import for mobile phones and computers gained ground last month, but those for chips and display panels fell in single digits. ■
