Export orders registered a record of US$28.7 billion last month as a result of the expanding world economy and strong demand from Europe and China, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
The figures were up from US$27.53 billion in May and represented an increase of 15.19 percent year-on-year, the ministry said.
In a survey the ministry conducted last month, 25.37 percent of manufacturers expected to gain more export orders this month than last month, while 49.45 percent said the size of export orders would remain unchanged. About 25.18 percent said orders would drop this month from last month, the survey showed.
"We expect the growth in export orders to be sustained in July," Huang Ji-shih (黃吉實), director of the ministry's statistics department, said at a press briefing, citing continuing growth in the global economy, robust demand from emerging markets and the approach of a traditional high season for exporters.
For the first six months to last month, export orders totaled US$159.57 billion, up 12.77 percent from a year earlier, the ministry's data showed.
By destinations, orders from Hong Kong and China rose 15.62 percent to US$7.4 billion last month, while those from the US increased 7.72 percent to US$7.31 billion. Orders from Europe rose 30.33 percent to US$4.94 billion and those from Japan gained 6.34 percent to US$2.7 billion.
Orders for electronics rose 14.67 percent last month to US$6.46 billion and those for information technology and communications products increased 22.86 percent to US$5.88 billion.
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