Sesame oil is establishing itself as a new export star alongside instant noodles and seaweed amid the spreading K-food wave. In the cultural and content sector, physical albums are leading export growth, while in industrial goods, large transformers are emerging as another key driver.
According to statistics released by the Korea Customs Service on Tuesday, sesame oil exports from January through April reached $6.14 million (about 9.2 billion won), up 37.0% from the same period a year earlier, while export volume rose 47.6% to 657 tons. Both export value and volume marked record highs for the period.
Sesame oil exports posted double-digit growth for two consecutive years, reaching $13.01 million in 2024 (up 20.3%) and $16.68 million last year (up 28.2%), with the upward trend accelerating further this year. The largest export destination is the United States, accounting for 41.7% at $2.6 million, followed by Canada, Taiwan, Australia and the Netherlands.
"Amid the spread of preferences for healthy diets such as vegetarianism centered on developed countries, the appeal of K-sesame oil, which minimizes heat treatment and contains no chemical additives, has come to the fore," the Korea Customs Service said. Adding sesame oil at the final stage of preparing Korean dishes such as bibimbap has taken root as part of everyday food culture, much like Westerners use olive oil or dressings in their cooking.
After becoming familiar with Korean cuisine through K-content, overseas consumers are now cooking it themselves and naturally adding key seasonings such as sesame oil to their shopping carts. While instant noodles and seaweed previously dominated K-food exports, the lineup has recently been diversifying into sauces.
Gochujang exports during the same period rose 2.1% year-on-year to $22.9 million. Double-digit growth was recorded in China (27.3%), Canada (33.1%) and the Netherlands (36.4%). After surpassing $60 million annually for the first time in 2023, exports rose steadily to $62 million in 2024 and $64 million last year.
Album (CD) exports are also continuing their steep upward trajectory. Album exports from January through April surged 131.8% from a year earlier to $160 million. The increase is attributed to the global spread of K-pop fandom along with growing analog consumption of physical albums driven by fatigue over digital streaming saturation.
In the industrial goods sector, large industrial transformers are emerging as a new export item. The trend reflects a simultaneous surge in demand for facilities that stably supply and convert large volumes of power, as the global build-out of AI data centers, replacement of aging power grids and expansion of semiconductor plants converge. Transformers are core equipment that adjust voltage from power plants or transmission networks to match the needs of factories, data centers and other end users.
Exports of industrial transformers (with capacity exceeding 500 kVA) from January through April jumped about 58% year-on-year to $96.8 million. On an annual basis, exports temporarily declined from $169.2 million in 2023 to $151.3 million in 2024 before rebounding to $217 million last year. Given that cumulative exports in the first four months of this year already approach half of last year's annual figure, observers say a record annual high is within sight.
