Korean simis up for April
Semiconductor exports rise for first time in 16 months
Korea's top export product, semiconductors, will post positive export figures for the first time in 16 months in April, signaling a recovery in the sluggish chip sector, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy forecast yesterday.
According to the ministry, chip exports are expected to total $1.4 billion in April, which is a 10 percent increase over the $1.27 billion of the same month last year.
Exports began a steady decline in January last year and recorded growth rates of -9.1 percent in February, -33.2 percent in April, -51.2 percent in June and -65.6 percent in August before recovering to -59.1 percent in October and -53.4 percent in December.
The figures continued to improve this year, posting -35.9 percent growth in January, -27.1 percent in February and -5.5 percent in March.
"Because of the low sale price of D-RAM chips, April's export total will not surpass that of March ($1.43 billion), but the figure is still 10 percent more than April of last year," a ministry official said.
In the long term, Korea could see as much as a 40 percent increase in chip exports by the end of the year to reach a $20 billion yearend total when semiconductor prices fully recover in the second half, the ministry said.
The ministry also noted that the first quarter export total reached $3.72 billion, which is 23.6 percent less than the sales for the same quarter last year, but an improvement from last year's third quarter ($2.76 billion) and fourth quarter ($2.94 billion).
Accordingly, the trade balance for semiconductors came to $130 million in March, the first surplus in 10 months.
Furthermore, D-RAM exports in the first quarter of this year totaled $1.49 billion, a 19.1 percent decrease from the same quarter last year, but an expansion of 111.2 percent compared to the fourth quarter of last year, the ministry said.
By product category, 256-megabyte D-RAM chips made up 38.3 percent (last year 14.8 percent) of total chip exports in the first quarter, 128-megabye D-RAM 44.5 percent (last year 47.2 percent), 64-megabye D-RAM 13.5 percent (last year 26.6 percent) and DDR 31.7 percent (last year 10.0 percent).
(mihui@koreaherald.co.kr)
2002.04.27 |
