Export orders grew last month at their slowest pace in eight months and industrial production fell as changes in the timing of the Lunar New Year holiday meant there were fewer working days.
Export orders -- indicative of shipments in one to three months -- rose 7.1 percent from a year earlier to US$13.9 billion, following a 20 percent gain in December, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said.
Industrial production fell 1.1 percent after a revised 13 percent gain in December.
The nation's factories are making more flat-panel displays, notebook computers and semiconductors as spending picks up in China, the No. 1 buyer of Taiwan's exports, and a strong euro makes the nation's goods cheaper in Europe. A 17 percent jump in overseas sales helped the economy grow 5.2 percent in the fourth quarter, its fastest in more than a year.
For the whole of last year, overseas sales rose 10 percent, and the government predicts that pace will be maintained this year.
Orders from Hong Kong rose 9.2 percent last month to US$3 billion, the ministry said in a statement.
Orders from Europe increased 12 percent to US$2.3 billion, aided by the New Taiwan dollar's 11 percent slide against the euro in the past year. Orders from Japan gained 6.7 percent to US$1.4 billion and those from the US were little changed at US$3.7 billion.
RSS