South Korea's storage semiconductor exports in June are expected to hit a record high, with brokerages raising their profit forecasts for storage companies.

BlockBeats Message, June 22 — Critini Research analyst Jukan cited content from South Korea’s IT technology media “Electronic News” on social media, saying that South Korea’s storage semiconductor exports in June are expected to hit the highest level in history.

It is reported that in June, storage semiconductor exports continued a strong momentum, with AI demand and a supply shortage driving a simultaneous surge in export value and unit price. The spillover effect of the HBM shortage has spread to general DRAM, NAND, and SSD, and exports are expected to surpass the May record of $37.16 billion, which reached a historical high.

According to data from South Korea’s Korea Customs Service on June 22, from June 1 to 20, the export value of major storage products had already exceeded $23 billion, reaching more than 60% of the total for May. Given the recent growth momentum across categories, total exports in June are expected to fall in the range of $38 billion to $42 billion, setting yet another record high. Concentrated shipments toward the end of the month usually further boost export volume.

In June, all storage categories showed a synchronized surge in export value and unit price, reflecting the structural expansion of the AI storage supercycle. Among them, HBM (multi-chip packaging) export value jumped 51% month over month. Major manufacturers such as NVIDIA have continued investing in AI data centers, while HBM3E and HBM4 supplies led by SK hynix remain persistently tight.

Shifting wafer capacity toward HBM has led to a reduction in general DRAM supply, and its unit price has risen to 2 to 3 times that of the same period last year. In addition, with a rebound in PC and mobile phone demand, export value has increased significantly. The expansion of AI inference server construction has driven a surge in demand for NAND and SSD; the two categories grew 25% to 28% month over month, respectively.

Storage semiconductors’ share of total semiconductor exports has risen from 70% to 90%. Combined exports of storage and system semiconductors this month totaled $25.5 billion. South Korea’s total semiconductor exports in June are expected to fall in the range of $42 billion to $46 billion.

With strong performance, brokerages have raised profit forecasts for storage companies. A researcher from Hanwha Investment & Securities analyzed that South Korea’s storage industry is overcoming its shortcomings by relying on two major weapons: long-term supply agreements and HBM. Even if the industry enters a downturn in the future, operating profit will not decline as severely as in the past.