SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea’s exports rose at their fastest pace in 14 months in September, blowing past market expectations, as a global AI boom drove strong demand for chips, trade data showed on Wednesday.
Exports from Asia’s fourth-largest economy, an early bellwether for global trade, stood at $65.95 billion in September, up 12.7% from a year earlier, compared with a 7.2% increase forecast in a Reuters poll of economists.
The surge in shipments topped the 1.2% rise in August and marked the biggest percentage gain since July 2024, also boosted by favourable calendar effects from the timing difference in the Chuseok thanksgiving holidays.
Exports of semiconductors rose 22% to a record monthly value of $16.61 billion amid increasing demand from a global artificial intelligence boom. Auto sales also jumped 17%, led by hybrid and electric vehicles, despite a hit from U.S. tariffs.
By destination, shipments to China rose 0.5%, after four straight months of declines, while those to the European Union and the ASEAN bloc soared 19.3% and 17.8%, respectively. Exports to the U.S. fell 1.4%, weighed down by tariffs.
South Korea’s negotiations to formalise a July deal aimed at reducing U.S. tariffs on Korean imports, including automobiles, to 15% from 25%, in return for South Korea’s investment of $350 billion in the U.S., have stalled due to Seoul’s concerns over foreign exchange implications.
Imports rose 8.2% in September to $56.40 billion, also marking the biggest gain in 14 months, after falling 4.1% in August.
The monthly trade balance stood at a surplus of $9.56 billion, wider than the previous month’s $6.51 billion and the biggest since September 2018.
(Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Tom Hogue and Shri Navaratnam)
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