South Korea's exports of information and communication technology (ICT) products hit a record high in July, data showed Wednesday, rising for the 14th consecutive month thanks to global demand for chips and displays, Trend reports citing Yonhap.
Outbound shipments of ICT products stood at US$19.5 billion last month, up 30.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Science and ICT.
The figure marks a fresh high for July after reaching $18.5 billion in 2018.
Imports reached $11.32 billion last month, up 14.9 percent from a year earlier, resulting in a trade surplus of $8.17 billion.
Chips and dislays continued to boost South Korea's ICT exports last month, with semiconductor shipments increasing 38.8 percent on-year to $11.05 billion, topping the $10 billion mark for the third month in a row.
The ministry said robust demand and increasing prices led exports of memory chips to surge 43.8 percent to $7.14 billion over the cited period, while logic chip shipments jumped 35.8 percent to a record high of $3.34 billion.
Display exports rose 34.9 percent to $2.09 billion thanks to strong demand for organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) used in smartphones and televisions.
OLED exports nearly doubled last month, soaring 89.6 percent on-year to $1.22 billion and rising for the 11th consecutive month.
By destination, shipments to China, South Korea's largest trading partner, rose 30.7 percent on-year to $9.1 billion thanks to demand across the board.
Chip exports to the country rose 38.1 percent to $6.6 billion over the cited period, while display shipments increased 21.7 percent to $940 million.
Exports to Vietnam increased 17.9 percent to $2.94 billion, while those to the United States gained 47.3 percent to $2.65 billion.
South Korea's total exports in July jumped 29.6 percent on-year to a record $55.4 billion, extending their gains to a ninth consecutive month on strong auto and chip sales.