The nation's export orders rose 11.92 percent from a year earlier to US$27.53 billion last month on stronger demand for information and communications products, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
"Strong demand for notebook computers and the continued outsourcing of orders by global manufacturers led to a pronounced rise in orders for information and communications," the ministry said in its statement.
In April, the nation recorded US$27.46 billion in export orders, representing an increase of 11.27 percent from April last year, statistics provided by the ministry showed.
Last month's export orders reached their second-highest level, following a record high of US$28.03 billion posted in March.
The report "shows Taiwan is gradually emerging from a typically slow second quarter," said Lucas Lee, an economist at Mega Securities Corp (兆豐證券).
"We need to see whether demand from the US will continue to catch up with that of Asia," he said.
In the first five months of the year, Taiwan took in export orders worth US$130.87 billion, up 12.25 percent from the same period last year.
The ministry expects the nation's export orders in the first half of the year to see signifant growth compared with the same period a year earlier.
"We expect double-digit [year-on-year] growth for export orders in June, as well as growth for the first half," said Huang Ji-shih (
"The exporters [we] surveyed have indicated a cautiously optimistic view for orders and capacity utilization," he said.
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