A national trade-balance print is a hard confirmation of the memory tightness thesis from outside the companies' own reporting: on the stated June figure, chips carry roughly $35B of surplus against ~$1B for everything else South Korea sells. That is a country whose entire external surplus is one industry. Note the window — this is a June data point being circulated in August, not a fresh monthly release.
South Korea's chip boom is incredible. South Korea's chip trade surplus surged to a record ~$35 billion in June, more than tripling in 12 months. By comparison, the non-chip trade surplus was just ~$1 billion over the same period. Meanwhile, semiconductor exports soared
A national trade-balance print is a hard confirmation of the memory tightness thesis from outside the companies' own reporting: on the stated June figure, chips carry roughly $35B of surplus against ~$1B for everything else South Korea sells. That is a country whose entire external surplus is one industry. Note the window — this is a June data point being circulated in August, not a fresh monthly release.
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