South Korea's memory export prices surged in May 2026, with DRAM, NAND Flash, and HBM all posting significant gains. According to customs data, DRAM export prices rose 20.9% month-over-month and 497.4% year-over-year. NAND Flash prices increased 63.1% month-over-month and 351.6% year-over-year. HBM memory prices climbed 18.7% month-over-month and 165.5% year-over-year.
Unit prices reach record highs
The unit prices reflect the high value of memory chips. DRAM reached $89,498 per kilogram, while NAND Flash hit $67,307 per kilogram. HBM was priced at $78,752 per kilogram. Memory modules, which include DRAM modules, saw a unit price of $29,882 per kilogram. However, module prices dropped 13.9% month-over-month, though they were still up 326.3% year-over-year.
SSD prices, based on NAND, rose 63% month-over-month. But consumer TLC-based SSD spot prices are falling 30-40% due to oversupply, according to Trendforce. Meanwhile, NAND prices are expected to rise 70-75% in the current quarter, according to the article author.
The price increases are driven by strong demand for AI-related memory, particularly HBM, which is used in high-performance computing. Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron, and Kioxia are the key vendors in this market. The data comes from South Korea Customs, with additional analysis from Trendforce and WCCFTech.
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