Japanese companies reportedly suffered a significant blow as South Korean firms strive to reduce their heavy reliance on Japan for key semiconductor and display materials since Tokyo's related export restrictions.

Quoting data from the Korea International Trade Association, Japan's Nikkei News reported on Sunday that Japan's exports of hydrogen fluoride to South Korea plunged 75 percent last year from a year earlier.

The drop represents a decrease of nearly 90 percent compared to figures seen before the export curbs.

Nikkei said that Japanese manufacturers of the chemical, such as Stella Chemifa and Morita Chemicals, suffered annual losses of some six billion yen in their sales to South Korea.

The report said Japan's exports of the other two materials – fluorinated polyimide and photoresist – did not decline much as the Japanese government approved shipments soon after the export curbs.