South Korea's ICT exports hit a monthly record in September.... mainly on the back of robust shipments of semiconductors.<br />Kim Ji-yeon reports. <br />A report released on Wednesday by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy shows South Korea's ICT exports rose by more than five-percent on-year in September to nearly 20-point-three billion U.S. dollars,... the second straight month it has surpassed the 20-billion dollar mark.<br />The nation's ICT trade balance also marked its highest monthly surplus of around 12-point-three billion dollars last month... as ICT imports stood at eight-billion dollars.<br />The lion's share of the exports was semiconductors... which also recorded a monthly high in September of a combined 12-and-a-half-billion dollars... a near 27 percent increase on-year.<br />It's the fifth straight month it has topped the ten billion dollar mark.<br />Shipments of memory chips and DRAMs soared by 44-and-a-half percent and by more than 54-percent on-year respectively.<br />Exports of displays rose more than 11-percent on-year... to nearly 2-point-6-billion dollars due to an increase in OLED panel shipments.<br />However, the report notes how exports of LCD large panel displays dwindled due to heightened competition from Chinese manufacturers.<br />Smartphone exports jumped nearly 37-percent on-year last month to nearly one-point-2-billion dollars... despite having the disadvantage of having to cater to a highly saturated market.<br />Exports of computers rose more than 12-percent on-year to 110-million dollars.<br />By region, exports to China marked a record-high at 11-point-six billion dollars in September, a near 17 percent increase from the same month last year.<br />Kim Ji-yeon, Arirang News. <br />
