India’s exports rose for the first time in 14 months as recovery in the global economy boosted year-end holiday demand for the South Asian nation’s products.
Overseas shipments increased 18.2 percent to US$13.2 billion in November from a year earlier after sliding an average 21 percent per month since October 2008, according to a trade ministry statement. Imports fell 2.6 percent to US$22.8 billion in November, resulting in the trade deficit narrowing to US$9.6 billion from US$12.3 billion a year ago.
QUICKEST PACE
A return to export growth may boost production at companies in India and bolster the revival in Asia’s third-biggest economy, which expanded 7.9 percent in the three months to Sept. 30 from a year earlier, the quickest pace in six quarters.
Some sectors have started showing signs of improvement. Overseas sales of Indian gems and jewelry jumped 54.8 percent to US$21.4 billion in November compared with US$13.8 billion in the same month a year ago, according to the Gem & Jewelry Export Promotion Council. Vehicle exports rose 25 percent in November from a year earlier, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers said on Dec. 8.
STRENGTHENED
The Indian currency strengthened 4.8 percent last year to 46.5275 per dollar at the 5pm close in Mumbai on Thursday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That was the third-best performance among Asian currencies after Indonesia’s rupiah and the South Korean won.
The rupee gained as foreign funds raised their holdings of the nation’s stocks to a record as the benchmark Sensitive Index rallied the most in 18 years.The Indian stock market was closed yesterday.
Non-oil imports dropped 5.9 percent to US$16.5 billion in November from a year ago, while oil imports rose 7.3 percent to US$6.38 billion in the same month, the government report showed.
WEAKER ACTIVITY: The sharpest deterioration was seen in the electronics and optical components sector, with the production index falling 13.2 points to 44.5 Taiwan’s manufacturing sector last month contracted for a second consecutive month, with the purchasing managers’ index (PMI) slipping to 48, reflecting ongoing caution over trade uncertainties, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The decline reflects growing caution among companies amid uncertainty surrounding US tariffs, semiconductor duties and automotive import levies, and it is also likely linked to fading front-loading activity, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said. “Some clients have started shifting orders to Southeast Asian countries where tariff regimes are already clear,” Lien told a news conference. Firms across the supply chain are also lowering stock levels to mitigate
IN THE AIR: While most companies said they were committed to North American operations, some added that production and costs would depend on the outcome of a US trade probe Leading local contract electronics makers Wistron Corp (緯創), Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), Inventec Corp (英業達) and Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶) are to maintain their North American expansion plans, despite Washington’s 20 percent tariff on Taiwanese goods. Wistron said it has long maintained a presence in the US, while distributing production across Taiwan, North America, Southeast Asia and Europe. The company is in talks with customers to align capacity with their site preferences, a company official told the Taipei Times by telephone on Friday. The company is still in talks with clients over who would bear the tariff costs, with the outcome pending further
Six Taiwanese companies, including contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), made the 2025 Fortune Global 500 list of the world’s largest firms by revenue. In a report published by New York-based Fortune magazine on Tuesday, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), ranked highest among Taiwanese firms, placing 28th with revenue of US$213.69 billion. Up 60 spots from last year, TSMC rose to No. 126 with US$90.16 billion in revenue, followed by Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) at 348th, Pegatron Corp (和碩) at 461st, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) at 494th and Wistron Corp (緯創) at
NEGOTIATIONS: Semiconductors play an outsized role in Taiwan’s industrial and economic development and are a major driver of the Taiwan-US trade imbalance With US President Donald Trump threatening to impose tariffs on semiconductors, Taiwan is expected to face a significant challenge, as information and communications technology (ICT) products account for more than 70 percent of its exports to the US, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said on Friday. Compared with other countries, semiconductors play a disproportionately large role in Taiwan’s industrial and economic development, Lien said. As the sixth-largest contributor to the US trade deficit, Taiwan recorded a US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US last year — up from US$47.8 billion in 2023 — driven by strong
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