Taiwan export orders down 4.5 percent for September

2015/10/22

Taiwan’s export orders dropped 4.5 percent year on year to US$41.35 billion last month, reflecting lackluster conditions in mainland China and other major economies around the world, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs Oct. 20.

“Although the figure marks the sixth annual decline in a row, it was actually better than what we expected,” said Lin Lee-jen, director-general of MOEA Department of Statistics. “The result is largely due to a higher comparison base from 2014, decelerating growth in mainland China and weak global metal and oil prices.”

According to Lin, basic metals sank 19 percent to 1.93 billion, electronics fell 5.6 percent to US$10.53 billion, machinery slipped 14.3 percent to US$1.61 billion, and precision instruments, including display panels, declined 15.9 percent to US$2.4 billion.

“On a brighter note, the 5.4 percent gain in orders for Taiwan’s information communications technology products to US$13.55 billion was a record high for the month,” she said.

In terms of performance by market segment, the U.S. was the No. 1 source of orders, up 0.6 percent to US$11.43 billion, followed by mainland China at US$9.38 billion, down 9.8 percent, and Europe at US$9.28 billion, up 1.8 percent.

For the first nine months of the year, Taiwan’s export orders declined 3.1 percent to US$329.71 billion.

Lin said given that the declines are narrowing and the holiday season is approaching, there is every reason to expect boosted demand for Taiwan’s major export items. “The MOEA has factored this uptick into its projections and is rolling out additional measures promoting Taiwan’s exports.”

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=238051&ctNode=2194&mp=9)