September 4, 2026 / SemiMedia / — South Korea's semiconductor exports reached a record $46.65 billion in August, surging 209% from a year earlier and exceeding $40 billion for the third consecutive month, according to data released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources.

Semiconductors accounted for approximately 47.5% of South Korea's total exports of $98.25 billion during the month. The previous monthly record was $44.8 billion in June, followed by $41.0 billion in July before shipments reached a new high in August.

The ministry attributed the increase mainly to strong AI infrastructure demand as hyperscalers including Google and Amazon continued to expand capital spending on data centers. The investment is supporting demand for HBM, server DRAM and other high-performance memory products.

Higher memory prices also contributed to the increase in export value. The fixed price of DDR5 16Gb rose from $35.0 in April to $46.5 in August, while NAND 128Gb increased from $24.2 to $30.5 over the same period.

Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are among the main beneficiaries of the continuing growth in AI server demand, particularly for HBM and server DRAM. Strong memory demand and higher pricing have helped push South Korea's semiconductor exports to repeated monthly records in 2026.

At $46.65 billion, August semiconductor exports were about 3.1 times the level recorded a year earlier, keeping chips at the center of South Korea's export growth as global AI infrastructure investment continues.