South Korea's chipmaking and petrochemical sectors are positioned to benefit the most from the ongoing global economic recovery, with the sectors' exports expected to remain bullish moving forward, a report showed on Wednesday.

IBK Economic Research Institute, a research arm of Industrial Bank of Korea, said in the report that small and mid-sized firms in the sectors are poised to gain from the upward business cycle.

The country's exports of computer chips reached $20.2 billion in the first quarter of the year, rebounding from $14 billion in the fourth quarter of 2016 and $17.2 billion a year earlier.

On petrochemicals, the think tank said the price of the benchmark Dubai crude rose to $52.90 per barrel on average in the first three months of the year, from $30.30 per barrel seen a year earlier, the report said.

"A rise in oil prices will boost overseas demand for petrochemicals, which will help smaller firms see a rise in their exports," the report said.

The report said refiners are expected to continue their massive investment into upgrading their facilities this year and IT firms will accelerate their efforts to finding new growth engines through heavy spending. (Yonhap)