South Korea's exports fell for the 11th consecutive month this October amid slowing global trade and the on-going U.S.-China trade spat.<br />But the production and export volume of semiconductors has been going up and demand for chips is expected to rise.<br />Kim Hyesung reports.<br />Data shows semiconductor exports, which account for about a fifth of South Korea's total exports, are likely to go up in 2020.<br />According to the trade ministry on Monday, semiconductor export volume went up 16 percent on-year to more than 25-hundred tons last month.<br />Between January and October, chip export volume was up 5 percent on-year, and it has increased by double digits on-year since July.<br />Semiconductor production also increased.<br />Data shows chip production in the third quarter went up 8 percent on-year.<br />But the value of chip exports plunged 26 percent on-year to around 79 billion U.S. dollars in the months through October due to a sharp fall in memory chip prices like DRAM and NAND flash on oversupply.<br />But with memory chip prices having almost bottomed out, experts say value of chip exports is expected to recover next year.<br />"The memory chip industry is cyclical with a two-to-four year of cycle of ups and downs depending on supply and demand. And this cycle is shortening on technological advances. We saw a chip boom in 2016 and a downturn in the latter half of 2018. Companies like Micron Technology and Samsung Electronics have lowered their inventories, and demand for chips is set to pick up."<br />Global demand for chips is expected to increase on demand from data centers and the wider adoption of 5G technology in driverless cars, AI and IoT.<br />Global research institutes estimate demand for memory chips to go up by between 5-point-five and 17 percent on-year in 2020.<br />Kim Hyesung, Arirang News.<br />
