TAIPEI: Taiwan’s export orders rose 1.3 percent annually to US$38.43 billion last month, as sluggish demand from China offset strong demand for handheld devices from the US and Europe, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said here the other day.
That brought the export orders last quarter up 2.5 percent annually to US$107.36 billion, from US$104.7 billion, according to the ministry’s statistics
However, the ministry warned that growing signs of weakening demand for handheld devices globally would weigh on Taiwan’s export orders for information and technology products, as well as electronics products, in the near term.
Weak demand for PCs and tablets might also drag down export orders, Department of Statistics Director-General Lin Lee-jen told a press conference.
“As a result, we expect this month’s export orders to decline slightly from last month’s US$38.43 billion and last year’s US$38.87 billion,” Lin said, citing the results of a survey conducted by the ministry.
Lin said the ministry expects momentum to pick up in the second half of this year on the back of wearable products and new handheld devices.
Gordon Sun director of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research’s macroeconomic forecasting center, said that Taiwan’s exports could face headwinds due to declining global crude oil prices and the weak euro against the US dollar in the first half of this year.
Export orders for Taiwan’s petrochemical products and plastic and rubber goods dropped 9 percent and 9.1 percent respectively last month from a year ago due to the falling global prices of crude oil, the ministry said.
Orders for Taiwan’s basic metal products also declined 5.9 percent to US$2.32 billion last month, mainly due to a global steel glut, the ministry said.
Lin said that thanks to the US and Europe’s demand for handheld devices, Taiwan’s information technology export orders jumped 12.9 percent to US$10.6 billion last month from a year ago, and electronic goods also increased 1.5 percent annually to US$9.43 billion.
By country, the US remained the largest export destination for Taiwanese goods, with export orders growing 16.7 percent year-on-year to US$9.91 billion last month on strong demand for electronics and information technology products, Lin said.
Export orders from China and Hong Kong dropped 3.8 percent to US$9.69 billion last month from a year ago on weak demand for chemical products and precision instruments, Lin said.
