South Korea’s exports of the customs category that carries high-bandwidth memory (HBM) are no longer a two-destination story. Unit-value data show that the chips going to Taiwan and Malaysia are worth several times more per kilogram than those shipped to Hong Kong, China, or Vietnam. That points to a two-tier trade, with premium stacked memory heading to advanced packaging lines and cheaper multichip parts going to transit hubs and lower-unit-value destinations.
South Korea’s HBM-linked exports surge as Taiwan, Malaysia emerge as high-value destinations
28
Sep