Semiconductors were 47.2 percent of everything South Korea shipped in the first twenty days of August, and passenger car exports fell 45 percent over the same days

Semiconductors were 47.2 percent of it.

That is what South Korea shipped in the first twenty days of August, according to provisional figures the Korea Customs Service released on Friday morning. Exports over 1 to 20 August came to $55.2bn, up 56.0 percent on the same twenty days of last year. Imports were $41.2bn, up 19.0 percent. The trade surplus came to $14.0bn, against $760m a year earlier.

The customs service records the export figure as the largest for that window in any August. Second place is last August, at $35.4bn.

There were fewer working days this year rather than more, 14.0 against 14.5, so the daily average carries the same story in a cleaner form. It rose from $2.44bn to $3.94bn, an increase of 61.5 percent.

One line did most of it

Semiconductor exports were $26.0bn, up 198.8 percent, which is close to three times what they were a year ago and the largest figure the series has recorded for the period. That single movement took the semiconductor share of Korean exports to 47.2 percent, 22.5 percentage points above last August.

Below it the basket is not uniform. Petroleum products rose 56.4 percent to $4.2bn and computer peripherals rose 242.1 percent to $2.3bn, while steel products managed 9.7 percent. Passenger cars fell 45.1 percent to $1.5bn. Ships fell 60.5 percent to $914m and auto parts fell 19.9 percent to $797m.

Where it went, and the one place it did not

China took $15.3bn, up 118.6 percent, and the United States $8.0bn, up 59.4 percent. Vietnam rose 67.4 percent to $5.8bn, Hong Kong 245.5 percent to $3.6bn and Malaysia 261.2 percent to $2.0bn. The customs service puts the combined share of the top three destinations at 52.6 percent.

The European Union is the exception in the table. Shipments there were $3.6bn, down 3.2 percent, and it is the only large destination on the list that fell.

Imports lean the same way as exports. Semiconductor imports rose 59.4 percent and semiconductor manufacturing equipment rose 89.3 percent to $1.9bn. Crude oil rose 17.0 percent and coal 52.5 percent while gas fell 17.1 percent, leaving energy imports as a group up 11.1 percent.

Two warnings are printed on the release and both matter here. A twenty day figure is a short period statistic and moves with the working day count. And the numbers are compiled on the date each declaration is accepted, so some of them will be corrected before the annual statistics are confirmed in February 2027.

The release was distributed on Friday. This item runs on Sunday, and nothing in the figures has been revised in between.