Global Semi: South Korea Equipment Import Tracker (Sep 26): Import +41% YoY

Korea Customs Service released Sep 2026 semiconductor equipment import data on October 15th. We have extracted and analyzed relevant information that has strong significance for our coverage companies. Overall, South Korean semi equipment imports in September were globally +41% YoY / +29% MoM. YTD YoY was 44.6% (vs. August with 45.2%). Imports for Japanese SPE were +27% YoY and +1% MoM. Advantest's memory tester revenue shows good correlation with South Korea tester import data, which was +26% MoM / +84% YoY. Regression suggests Advantest to see a +14% QoQ increase in SepQ South Korea tester revenue, versus consensus of +17%. South Korea's WFE imports from the Netherlands in Sept reached a record level of €1.52bn, up 115% MoM and 58% YoY, and total WFE imports in 2026 YTD reached €8.37bn, up ~80% YoY. Our regression model estimates ASML Korea's Q3 system sales at €2.53bn, down 10% QoQ but up 153% YoY;