Expected to hit a record high, South Korea's June storage semiconductor exports reach 38 to 42 billion USD

Odaily Planet Daily News: Citrini analyst jukan posted on the X platform that driven by AI demand and supply shortages, South Korea's storage semiconductor export value and unit price rose simultaneously in June. According to trade statistics from the Korea Customs Service, as of June 20, 2026, the total export value of major storage products exceeded 23 billion USD, already surpassing 60% of the 37.16 billion USD total export value for the entire month of May.

Based on the recent monthly growth of HBM, NAND, and SSD, the total storage semiconductor export value in June is expected to reach 38 to 42 billion USD, surpassing last month's record and reaching an all-time high. In June, both the export value and unit price of various storage semiconductors rose simultaneously, with the export value of MCP (i.e., HBM) increasing by 51% month-over-month.

Influenced by continued investment in AI data centers by global tech giants like NVIDIA, the supply shortage of HBM3E and HBM4, centered around SK Hynix, persists. As wafers are concentrated on HBM production, the supply of general DRAM has relatively decreased, pushing the unit price of general DRAM to approximately 2 to 3 times that of the same period last year. Demand for NAND flash and SSD is growing alongside the expansion of AI inference server construction, with both product categories seeing a month-over-month increase of 25% to 28%. The share of storage products in total semiconductor exports has risen from the previous 70% range to 90% this month. The combined export value of storage and system semiconductors reached 25.5 billion USD, with the total semiconductor export value for June expected to be between 42 and 46 billion USD.

Park Junyoung, a researcher at Hanwha Investment & Securities, stated that South Korea's storage industry is currently overcoming weaknesses by relying on two tools: long-term supply agreements and HBM. Even if the profitability of the storage industry declines in the future, the drop in operating profit is unlikely to be as severe as in the past.