Exports last month broke the USD 80 billion mark for the first time in history. Shown are containers at Pyeongtaek Port in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi-do Province. (Yonhap News)

By Kim Seon Ah

Exports in March broke the USD 80 billion mark, the highest on record for a month, culminating in a trade surplus of USD 25.7 billion.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources on April 1 released a report on March exports and imports saying outbound shipments reached USD 86.13 billion, a 48.3% jump year on year, and imports USD 60.4 billion, up 13.2%. This resulted in a trade surplus of USD 25.74 billion, continuing a trend for the 14th consecutive month.

Despite external jitters triggered by the war in the Middle East, semiconductors led the strong export growth with USD 32.8 billion. This was the first time for chips to break USD 30 billion in a month as they drove overall export growth.

Rising prices of memory chips and expanded investment in artificial intelligence servers were key factors behind the surge.

By item, exports of computers skyrocketed 189% thanks to heated demand for enterprise SSDs, while those of petroleum products rose 54.9% due to higher unit prices resulting from oil price inflation. Despite growing sales of eco-friendly models, car exports rose just 2.2%.

China saw the highest growth in Korean exports with 64.2% year on year to USD 16.5 billion, while those to the U.S. rose 47.1% to USD 16.3 billion. Shipments to the Middle East, however, shrank 49.1% due to logistical disruptions caused by the conflict.

Despite lower energy imports, imports showed an upward trend led by a rise in non-energy items such as semiconductors. Crude oil imports declined due to reduced volume but those of semiconductors rose 34.8% and equipment 4.4%.

sofiakim218@korea.kr