Export orders last month rose to US$20.66 billion from US$19.52 billion in May with the government forecasting full-year growth of 10 percent, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement released yesterday in Taipei.
The June figure marks a 16.70 percent year-on-year rise, compared with a 13.14 percent rise the preceding month, the ministry said.
In the first six months of the year, export orders amounted to US$116.51 billion, up 17.44 percent from the same period a year ago, the ministry added.
A ministry official expects an increase of more than 10 percent in export orders year-on-year during the second half of the year.
"Yes, we believe there should be growth of more than 10 percent," said Chang Yaw-tzong (
"But the figure is unlikely to exceed the 17.44 percent increase [in US dollar terms] registered in the first half," Chang added.
He also estimated that economic growth rebounded to about 3 percent in the second quarter from 2.5 percent in the first three months of the year, driven by higher-than-expected growth rates in countries such as the US and China.
The government is counting on exports, which account for about half of the nation's US$305 billion economy, to help it achieve a growth target of 4.5 percent for this year.
"Demand for electronics products is stronger than expected after customers cut inventories," said Vickie Hsieh, chief economist at President Securities Corp (統一證券).
"Such an uptrend should continue at least through September," Hsieh added.
Orders for information communications technology products rose 21.11 percent year-on-year to US$4.03 billion last month, while orders for electronics products grew 17.57 percent to US$4.61 billion, the ministry said.
The US accounted for the biggest amount of export orders last month, at US$5.65 billion, although growth was only 6.01 percent from a year earlier.
Orders from Hong Kong last month expanded by 20.35 percent year-on-year to US$4.88 billion, while orders from Japan surged 31.99 percent to US$2.42 billion.
Orders from Europe amounted to US$2.92 billion, up 13.44 percent from a year earlier.
Still, factory output gains aren't keeping pace with increases in overseas orders as Taiwanese manufacturers are shifting production to China.
Chang said that 41 percent of Taiwan's export orders for last month were produced overseas, up from 38 percent in May and 31 percent a year earlier.
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