South Korean chip exports to Taiwan surge amid supply chain shifts

South Korea’s semiconductor exports to Taiwan and Vietnam experienced significant growth last year, reflecting a shift in global supply chain dynamics, according to a report by Korea’s JoongAng Daily on Sunday.

The rise highlights South Korea’s increasing focus on diversifying its chip trade amid changing global markets.

Data from South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy revealed that the nation’s semiconductor exports reached an unprecedented USD 141.9 billion (NTD 4.67 trillion) in 2024, exceeding the previous record of USD 129.2 billion set in 2022, Taiwan News reported.

Over the January-to-November period in 2024, China’s share of South Korea’s chip exports fell to 51.7 per cent, compared with 61.1 per cent in 2020. Conversely, Taiwan’s share rose significantly, increasing from 6.4 per cent in 2020 to 14.5 per cent last year.

This increase in exports to Taiwan is linked to the trade of advanced high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips. Industry sources explained that SK Hynix supplies HBM chips to TSMC, which then integrates them into graphics processing units (GPUs) destined for Nvidia.

These GPUs are used to manufacture AI accelerators, showcasing the interconnected nature of the semiconductor industry and Taiwan’s role as a critical hub in global chip manufacturing, Taiwan News reported.

Similarly, South Korean semiconductor exports to Vietnam rose from 11.6 per cent in 2020 to 12.9 per cent in 2024. This growth was driven by companies such as Samsung relocating significant portions of their smartphone production from China to Vietnam, further altering the supply chain landscape in the region.

Kim Yang-paeng, a researcher at the Korea Institute of Industrial Economics and Trade, remarked that Washington’s “America First” policy is likely to reshape the global semiconductor supply chain. “This approach will push US allies to align with it in the ongoing trade war with China,” Kim said, as per reports by Taiwan News.

The policy could foster closer cooperation among allied nations while further challenging China’s dominance in the global semiconductor market.