Asia electronics sector booms, bucking global economic slump

In South Korea, semiconductor exports rose in May and imports of equipment used in producing semiconductors surged 168%, trade ministry data show. — Bloomberg

Global trade data in the Covid-19 era has been generally abysmal, but look a little closer and the electronics sector that fires Asia’s trade engines could be headed for a pretty good year.

In South Korea, semiconductor exports rose in May and imports of equipment used in producing semiconductors surged 168%, trade ministry data show. Taiwan’s electronic-component exports, which include chips, grew 13.2% in May to US$10.2bil (RM43.7bil), even as total exports fell 2% from a year earlier.