US controls on advanced chip exports to China hit South Korea’s semiconductor industry in the first two months of 2025, with sales to the mainland falling by nearly a third in February, Maeil Business reported.

Data from South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy showed chip exports to China dropped 31.8 per cent year-on-year last month to nearly $4 billion after falling 22.5 per cent to $5.6 billion in January.

The decline was attributed to new US restrictions imposed in December, impacting China-bound shipments of high bandwidth memory (HBM) chips. Korea-based SK Hynix and Samsung dominate the global HBM market.

The US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security amended its export regulations, adding new controls for certain advanced computing items, supercomputers and semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

A rise in exports to other countries made up for most of the China decline in February, with total chips sales down just 3 per cent year-on-year, the newspaper added.

In January, SK Hynix forecast demand for HBM and high-density server chips to continue to rise as companies boost investment in AI platforms, after its revenue doubled in 2024.