October export orders hit new high in Taiwan

2014-11-24

Taiwan’s export orders rose 13.4 percent year on year in October to a record US$44.91 billion, bolstered by booming demand for handheld smart devices worldwide, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs Nov. 20.

“October marked the ninth consecutive month of growth and a back-to-back double-digit gain,” said Lin Lee-jen, director-general of the MOEA Department of Statistics.

“This strong showing can also be attributed to increasing equipment investment on the strength of an improving global business climate,” she said, adding that a depreciating New Taiwan dollar also helped boost demand for local products.

Among the seven major export sectors, orders for information and communications technology products jumped 21 percent to a best-ever US$12.9 billion. Machinery and electronics surged 17.2 percent and 14.1 percent to US$1.99 billion and US$11.3 billion, respectively, both the highest on record.

Another highlight is that orders for precision instruments, including display panels, gained 1.4 percent to US$2.89 billion. This ended a 17-month run of declines and was largely due to the increasing popularity of ultra-high definition TV. Orders for basic metals also picked up 1.9 percent.

But orders for chemicals dropped 3.4 percent due to annual plant maintenance shutdowns, while orders for plastic and rubber products were also down 2.4 percent.

The U.S. remained the top source of orders, up 17.4 percent to an all-time high US$12.43 billion. Mainland China, including Hong Kong, was second with an increase of 3 percent to US$9.98 billion.

Europe came in third at US$9.52 billion, up 29.9 percent and continued a 15-month streak of gains to another new high. It was followed by Taiwan’s six major partners from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations with an increase of 20.4 percent, also a record high. Japan was the only region to post a decline, dropping 4.9 percent from the year before.

For the first 10 months of the year, export orders gained 7.1 percent to US$385.07 billion.

Lin, who is upbeat on the outlook for the next few months, expects orders to continue double-digit growth for the rest of the year. “With global heavyweights set to introduce more mobile devices and stock up for the holiday season, orders are likely to exceed our previous expectations and top US$480 billion for the year,” she said.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=224316&CtNode=413)