South Korea’s exports jumped 83.5 percent from a year earlier to a record $120.9 billion in September, powered by surging global demand for the semiconductors that run artificial intelligence systems, preliminary customs figures showed on Thursday.
It was the first time the country’s monthly shipments had passed $120 billion. The figure easily surpassed the previous record of $102.25 billion, set only in June.
Chips have come to dominate the trade. They accounted for 47.1 percent of everything South Korea shipped in the first 10 days of September, according to Korea Customs Service data on the month’s early exports.
The momentum was visible well before the month closed. In the first 20 days of September, exports adjusted for working-day differences rose 89.8 percent from a year earlier, up from a 61.5 percent pace in August, Bloomberg reported, citing customs office data.
Exports from Asia’s fourth-largest economy, a bellwether for global trade, rose 53.2 percent to what was then a record $87.75 billion in data for May, the biggest annual increase since January 1984, according to Reuters. Each month since has pushed the total higher.