Taiwan's export orders rose last month, helped by demand from emerging markets such as China.
Orders, an indication of shipments in the coming three months, advanced 18.08 percent from a year earlier, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. That compares with the median estimate of 18 percent in a Bloomberg News survey and 16.89 percent in January.
Business with China may get a boost after Ma Ying-jeou (
A slowdown in the US, Taiwan's second-biggest overseas market, will inevitably affect shipments, central bank Governor Perng Fai-nan (彭淮南) said yesterday.
"The numbers show that Taiwan so far hasn't been affected by the global slowdown," said Fang Wen-yen (
The figures were released after close of trading on Taiwan's stock exchange.
The TAIEX jumped 3.99 percent on optimism that Ma's election will boost links with China.
Ma, 57, pledged to enact immediately his policy to end a five-decade ban on direct flights between Taiwan and China.
Travelers are currently required to fly through a third port such as Hong Kong, adding up to five hours to flight times.
Ma has also promised to ease a ban on Taiwanese companies investing more than 40 percent of their assets in China, a rule aimed at preventing money and jobs moving away from the nation.
"Taiwan won't break this trend of relying on China," Fang said. "It's very important, particularly as US demand weakens."
Exports to Asia, including China and Hong Kong, have so far insulated Taiwan from the effects of a weaker US economy. China and Hong Kong combined accounted for 38 percent of Taiwan's overseas shipments last month. About 12 percent went to the US.
Orders from China and Hong Kong increased 26.07 percent last month, while those from Japan advanced 14.13 percent, Singapore climbed 10.38 percent and the rest of Asia 31.79 percent.
US orders rose 8.95 percent, compared with 7.65 percent in January and from Europe they increased 14.69 percent.
Orders for electronics climbed 22.79 percent from a year earlier and those for information technology and communications products gained 3.52 percent, yesterday's report showed.
Taiwan Semiconductor Man-ufacturing Co (台積電), the largest custom chipmaker in the world, forecast first-quarter sales to rise more than a third from the same period a year earlier, as customers buy its most-advanced products.
Industrial production increased 15.22 percent last month from a year earlier, the ministry said.
That compares with the estimate of 12 percent in the Bloomberg News survey and the 12.3 percent gain in January.
UNPRECEDENTED PACE: Micron Technology has announced plans to expand manufacturing capabilities with the acquisition of a new chip plant in Miaoli Micron Technology Inc unveiled a newly acquired chip plant in Miaoli County yesterday, as the company expands capacity to meet growing demand for advanced DRAM chips, including high-bandwidth memory chips amid the artificial intelligence boom. The plant in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼), which Micron acquired from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) for US$1.8 billion, is expected to make a sizeable capacity contribution to the company from fiscal 2028, the company said in a statement. It would be an extended production site of Micron’s large-scale manufacturing hub in Taichung, the company said. As the global semiconductor industry is racing to reach US$1 trillion
ABOVE LEGAL REQUIREMENT: The Ministry of Economic Affairs is prepared if LNG supply is disrupted, with more than the legal requirement of 11 days of inventory Taiwan has largely secured liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies through May and arranged about half of June’s supply, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday. Since the Middle East conflict began on Feb. 28, Taiwan’s LNG inventories have remained more than 12 days, exceeding the legal requirement of 11 days, indicating no major supply concerns for domestic gas and electricity, Kung said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei. The ministry aims to increase the figure to 14 days by the end of next year, he said. While one or two LNG or crude oil shipments for May
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings Ltd has applied for regulatory approval to acquire the Taiwan operations of Germany-based Delivery Hero SE's Foodpanda in a deal valued at about US$600 million. Grab submitted the filing to the Fair Trade Commission on Friday last week, with the transaction subject to regulatory review and approval, the company said in a statement yesterday. Its independent governance structure would help foster a healthy and competitive market in Taiwan if the deal is approved, Grab said. Grab, which is listed on the NASDAQ, said in the filing that US-based Uber Technologies Inc holds about 13 percent of
Taiwan’s food delivery market could undergo a major shift if Singapore-based Grab Holdings Ltd completes its planned acquisition of Delivery Hero SE’s Foodpanda business in Taiwan, industry experts said. Grab on Monday last week announced it would acquire Foodpanda’s Taiwan operations for US$600 million. The deal is expected to be finalized in the second half of this year, with Grab aiming to complete user migration to its platform by the first half of next year. A duopoly between Uber Eats and Foodpanda dominates Taiwan’s delivery market, a structure that has remained intact since the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) blocked Uber Technologies Inc’s
RSS