반도체 수출 비중, 19개월 만에 최저…"수출 경쟁력 약화 신호"

Semiconductors make up a big portion of South Korea's exports.... but the latest figures show that the ratio is falling,... slumping to its lowest point in over a year-and-a-half in January.
Ko Roon-hee has more.
Concerns are growing about South Korea's exports...with the figures dropping for three months on the bounce.
This was mainly due to a slump in chip shipments...which accounted for around 20-percent of South Korea's total exports on average in 2018.
New figures from the trade ministry and Korea Customs Service paint a grim picture for this year.
The percentage of chip exports out of South Korea's overall overseas shipments fell for four consecutive months starting October...and hit a 19-month low in January.
South Korea's total exports for the month marked around 46-point-3 billion U.S. dollars...and chip shipments accounted for 16 percent of the total,... the lowest since June 2017.
Analysts point to the slower growth of the global semiconductor market...mainly due weak demand and falling prices.
Many IT companies have been postponing investment or clearing stocks...as part of a 'wait-and-see' approach for chip prices to go down even further.
This led to a fall in prices...and the situation worsened due to the rise in global uncertainties such as the U.S.-China trade spat and low sales of smartphones and PCs.
Data by market tracker DRAMeXchange shows... contract prices of server DRAM are expected to fall by more than 20-percent on-quarter in the January-to-March period.
Although some say global chip demand is likely to pick up in the 2nd half of 2019...others say falling chip exports could be a warning sign for the nation's economy overall...signaling the need for major export items other than semiconductors.
Ko Roon-hee, Arirang News