ICT trade surplus reaches $7.55 billion in March

Trade surplus in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector reached $7.55 billion in March, up from $7.02 billion a year earlier, according to a report Thursday.

Exports of ICT products reached US$14.98 billion last month, up 8.9 percent from the same month of last year, while imports rose 10.3 percent on-year to $7.43 billion, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy reported.

The export growth was led by smartphones, memory semiconductors and digital TV sets, the ministry said.

Outbound shipments of smartphones soared 30.3 percent on-year to $2.4 billion on the back of Samsung’s Electronics’ newest Galaxy S5.

Before beginning sales of the Galaxy S5 smartphone worldwide on April 11, Samsung shipped a large number of parts and finished products to foreign countries in March. Exports of components for cheaper smartphones also surged 37.2 percent on-year.

Exports of memory semiconductors jumped 39.4 percent on-year to $2.72 billion, whereas shipments of digital TV sets soared 23.8 percent to $630 million.

Ahead of the opening of the FIFA World Cup tournament in Brazil, exports of TV sets to the South American nation are rising sharply, officials said.

Park Sae-jin swatchsjp@ajunews.com