September export orders hit all-time high in Taiwan

2014-10-23

Taiwan’s export orders rose 12.7 percent year on year in September to a record US$43.31 billion, bolstered by robust global demand for handheld devices, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs Oct. 20.

“September marked the eighth consecutive month of growth and is the best in 3 1/2 years,” said Lin Lee-jen, director-general of the MOEA Department of Statistics.

According to Lin, this encouraging result can also be attributed to increasing equipment investment worldwide on the back of an improving global business climate.

Orders for four of Taiwan’s seven major export sectors registered double-digit growth, with machinery leading the way at 21.4 percent. Electronics and information communications technology products surged 19.4 percent and 16.3 percent, respectively, to their highest on record.

But orders for precision instruments—including display panels—declined for the 17th month, dropping 2.1 percent as competition from mainland China continued to stiffen. Orders for chemicals, rubbers and plastics remained unchanged.

The U.S. took over as Taiwan’s top source of orders, up 15.5 percent to a best-ever US$11.37 billion. Mainland China, including Hong Kong, was second with an increase of 8.6 percent to US$10.4 billion, also a record high.

Europe came in third at US$9.12 billion, up 22.6 percent, growing for 14 months in a row. It was followed by Taiwan’s six major partners from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations with an increase of 12 percent. Japan was the only region posting a decline of 0.1 percent, ending a nine-month run of rises.

For the first three quarters of the year, export orders gained 6.3 percent to US$340.16 billion.

Lin, who is upbeat on the outlook for the next few months, expects orders to top US$44 billion in October. “With global heavyweights set to introduce more mobile devices going forward, orders are likely to exceed US$460 billion for the year,” she said.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xitem=223043&CtNode=415)