This is a view of the wharf at Gwangyang Port in Gwangyang, Jeollanam-do Province. (Yeosu Gwangyang Port Authority)

By Kim Hyelin

Strong performances by semiconductors and vehicles have the country's annual exports on the verge of breaking USD 700 billion for the first time.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources on Dec. 1 through monthly data on export-import trends said overseas shipments last month rose 8.4% year on year to USD 61.04 billion, a record high for November.

With exports breaking record highs for six consecutive months since June, the cumulative volume for the year's first 11 months hit USD 640.2 billion, the highest since USD 628.7 billion in 2022. Thus experts forecast that such shipments will surpass USD 700 billion by late this month.

By item, semiconductors played a leading role with exports of USD 17.26 billion, a monthly record attributed to surging demand for high-value memory semiconductors such as high bandwidth memory and DDR5 thanks to expanded investments in artificial intelligence servers and data centers.

Cumulative chip exports through November reached USD 152.6 billion, easily beating last year's annual record of USD 141.9 billion a month early.

Car exports were also strong, growing 13.7% to USD 6.41 billion. Those of both internal combustion engine vehicles and hybrids rose.

Exports of hybrids soared 43.4% and their cumulative total through last month was USD 66.04 billion, making last year's record high of USD 70.86 billion within reach.

Wireless communications (1.6%), bio (0.1%), secondary batteries (2.2%) and computers (4%) all saw export growth year on year.

Outside of the 15 major export items, exports of electrical appliances (5.2%), agricultural, fishery and food products (3.3%), and cosmetics (4.3%) all grew to contribute to the overall growth trend.

By market, shipments to China rose 6.9% to USD 12.07 billion, with those of chips, petroleum products and general machinery rising evenly.

Those to the U.S., however, dipped 0.2% to USD 10.35 billion due to the effect of tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.

Imports in November rose 1.2% to USD 51.3 billion, resulting in a trade surplus for the 10th consecutive month with USD 9.73 billion.

kimhyelin211@korea.kr