Export orders last month grew 7.68 percent year-on-year to US$16.2 billion on steady global economic recovery that stimulated demand for the nation's goods, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement.
The pace of the growth of orders, however, was lower than January's, due to fewer working days because of the Lunar New Year, the ministry said.
In January, export orders rose 32 percent from a year earlier to a six-month high of US$18.4 billion.
Orders will probably grow 10 percent this month on rising raw material prices and local exporters' edge in global logistics, Chang Yaw-tzong (
For the first two months of the year, export orders -- indicative of shipments in one to three months -- amounted to US$34.62 billion, up 19.47 percent from a year earlier. Last month, overseas orders for electronic goods rose US$320 million, or 9.96 percent, followed by those for information technology and communications equipment that increased US$160 million, or 5.72 percent.
US orders last month amounted to US$4.41 billion, up 9.67 percent year-on-year. Electronics products accounted for 27.46 percent and information technology and communications items 21.37 percent. Orders from Hong Kong in the month rose 1.04 percent to US$3.51 billion. Orders from Japan advanced 45.68 percent to US$2.04 billion, while European orders were up 15.68 percent over a year ago to US$2.9 billion.
Meanwhile, industrial output last month fell 13.26 percent year-on-year due to fewer working days, the ministry said. Industrial output for the first two months of the year declined 0.48 percent.
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