Sept. industrial output growth hits 15-yr high on chips; retail sales, investment also up

South Korea's industrial output surged in September at its fastest pace in over 15 years, driven primarily by semiconductor production, according to data released on Friday. The Ministry of Data and Statistics reported industrial production grew by 3 percent on a month-over-month basis, marking the sharpest increase since March 2011. This was the first time since June that the three key indicators - industrial output, retail sales, and facility investment - all rose simultaneously.

The overall industrial output expanded on a month-over-month basis in June, but the growth slowed to 0.1 percent in July. In August, it contracted by 1.2 percent. However, the mining and manufacturing sector, a crucial component of the economy, saw a significant surge of 9 percent, largely propelled by semiconductor production which jumped by 19.2 percent.

The growth in chip output was the largest since a 28.2 percent increase in February. The data ministry attributed these gains to heightened production of memory chips like dynamic random access memory (DRAM) products. Other notable beneficiaries included the automobile sector, which also experienced a notable increase.