Export orders up 5.2 percent in August for Taiwan

2014-09-24

Taiwan’s export orders rose 5.2 percent year on year in August to US$38.21 billion, buoyed by booming global demand for mobile devices and machinery, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs Sept. 22.

“August marked the seventh consecutive month of growth” said Lin Lee-jen, director-general of the MOEA Department of Statistics. “The dollar amount is another record high for the period.”

According to Lin, the positive result is largely due to a double-digit rise in demand for the country’s electronic products and services, as well as machinery.

“The introduction of new handheld devices spurred business for Taiwan’s foundries, integrated circuit-makers and memory producers,” he said. “A warming global economy also boosted demand for production equipment.”

Orders for four of Taiwan’s seven major export sectors registered growth, with machinery leading the way at 17.4 percent, the fifth month of double-digit gain. Electronics surged 12.6 percent, maintaining a 15-month streak.

While orders for precision instruments—including display panels—dropped for the 16th month in a row, the decline narrowed to 1.4 percent, with those from mainland China posting a gain for the first time in 12 months.

Mainland China, including Hong Kong, remained the top source of orders, up 2.9 percent to US$10.16 billion. The U.S. was second with an increase of 5.1 percent to US$9.43 billion, followed by Europe up 5.5 percent to US$6.33 billion.

Taiwan’s six major partners from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations came in fourth, but orders from the region posted the strongest growth of 13.9 percent. Japan followed suit, continuing a 10-month trend.

Lin is upbeat on the outlook going forward, expecting monthly orders to top US$40 billion throughout the year. “As global heavyweights get set to introduce more mobile devices, exports are likely to reach a record high of US$450 billion for 2014.”

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=222008&CtNode=413)