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South Korea's October 1-10 exports double on chip upcycle, hitting record $26.1 billion

South Korea's exports more than doubled to a record $26.1 billion in the first 10 days of October, led by a 170.9 percent jump in semiconductor shipments, customs data showed Monday.

AI News Feed · 2026-10-12 10:17

The Korea Customs Service data covered Oct. 1-10. The $26.1 billion total topped the previous record of $15.3 billion set in the first 10 days of October 2025. The daily average export value came to $4.75 billion, also a record for any 10-day period, Yonhap News Agency reported.

Imports rose 65.5 percent on-year to $22.3 billion over the same period, leaving a trade surplus of $3.8 billion.

Chips accounted for the largest share of the increase. Outbound semiconductor shipments jumped 170.9 percent to $12.1 billion, close to half of the period's total exports. Petroleum products rose 45.6 percent to $1.75 billion. Car exports climbed 82.7 percent to $1.21 billion, and steel products increased 49.4 percent to $1 billion. Ship exports moved in the opposite direction, falling 13.4 percent to $682 million.

By destination, exports to China rose 167 percent to $7.59 billion, while shipments to the United States gained 159.9 percent to $3.65 billion. Exports to Vietnam increased 89.7 percent to $2.4 billion.

An earlier Yonhap report on the same customs data, filed shortly before midnight Monday Seoul time, said only that exports had more than doubled and did not identify a driver for the gain. A subsequent report the same day attributed the increase to a global semiconductor upcycle and added the sectoral and destination breakdowns. Both reports cited identical figures for total exports, imports and the trade balance.

The figures cover only the first ten days of the month and are subject to revision as the full-month data are compiled. The $12.1 billion in chip exports alone exceeded the $15.3 billion record for all goods in the comparable period a year earlier when measured against the prior benchmark.