TAIPEI: Taiwan export order value fell 4.4 percent annually in 2015 on tumbling international crude prices and tepid growth of the global economy, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said Wednesday. The Economics Ministry on Wednesday released its latest data on export orders, which showed orders in December continuing a months-long contraction.
December value was down US$1.95 billion or 4.8 percent from November, and down US$5.42 billion or 12.3 percent compared to the same month in 2015. According to the MOEA, December orders posted the largest year-on-year reduction recorded in a single month in 2015. Export order value for the whole year of 2015 fell for the first time in six years, according to ministry data.
Total value for 2015 stood at US$451.8 billion, down US$21 billion or 4.4 percent from the preceding year. The Economics Ministry said it was the first time that Taiwan’s annual export order values contracted since six years ago during the global financial crisis.
Department of Statistics Director-General Lin Lee-jen said the year-on-year contraction in 2015 was due to a continual slowdown in global economic growth, as well as a softening demand for electronics that has hurt Taiwan’s supply chain. The declining price of international crude oil also affected order values by pushing down the average selling price of Taiwanese petrochemical products, Lin said.
