South Korea’s exports of its most lucrative memory chip fell by the most since 2019, indicating a deepening slump in technology demand central to global economic growth.
Shipments of DRAM fell 24.7 percent from a year earlier last month, compared with a 7 percent decline in the previous month, data released yesterday by the South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy showed.
DRAM accounts for almost half of South Korean exports of memory chips. It works with processors and other types of semiconductors to store and process information in a wide range of electronics.
Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc, both based in South Korea, control roughly two-thirds of the world’s memory market. Their revenues were hit in 2019 when the memorychip industry entered a bust cycle.
The nation’s tech exports, which account for one-third of its total shipments abroad, fell 4.6 percent last month, separate data from the ministry showed.
Smartphones, displays and computers all declined in shipment value as consumer demand slackened, the ministry said.
A growing number of indicators suggest that the world chip industry is cooling after years of a boom on demand for electronic devices amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rapid policy tightening by central banks to curb inflation is also fueling concerns of a recession.
Economic slowdowns in China, where the government is imposing strict COVID-19 controls, are another reason for the cooling.
Tech exports to China fell 14.4 percent last month, the ministry said, pointing to a lockdown in Shanghai among the key factors.
South Korea’s total exports grew last month by a single-digit figure for the third month in a row while trade deficits snowballed to a record on a weakening won and high energy costs.
The nation increasingly relies on imports of high-tech equipment and South Korean Minister of Trade Ahn Duk-geun told Bloomberg this week that the depreciation of the won is more negative than positive for trade.
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