Employees of Samsung Electronics Co. check equipment of the clean room of its semiconductor production facility. (image: Samsung Electronics)

SEOUL, Aug. 11 (Korea Bizwire) – The semiconductor and automobile industries led South Korea’s exports in the second quarter, with the items accounting for a record high of more than 30 percent of total outbound shipments, data showed Sunday.

Combined exports of chips and cars reached US$54.3 billion in the April-June period, taking up the highest quarterly figure of 31.7 percent of total exports, according to data compiled by the Korea International Trade Association. The previous high was 29.7 percent tallied in the previous quarter.

Chip exports accounted for 20.3 percent of total exports, and auto exports 11.4 percent.

In detail, the proportion of chip exports surpassed the 20 percent mark for the first time in the fourth quarter of 2017 before decreasing to 13.6 percent and 14.5 percent in the first quarter and second quarter of last year, respectively, due to a downturn in the global chip industry.

The figure rebounded this year on the recovery of the global chip demand, driven by the growth of the cloud computing and artificial intelligence markets.

Auto exports reached $19.5 billion, the highest quarterly tally, in the April-June period, 17 years after the tally surpassed the $10 billion mark for the first time in the fourth quarter of 2007.

The Korea Automobile & Mobility Association forecast overseas sales of automobiles will reach $37.5 billion in the second half, up 6.5 percent from a year ago, thanks to robust demand for Korean eco-friendly and sports utility vehicles in the North American market.

(Yonhap)