A year-on-year increase in export orders for last month on the back of peak season effects for the bellwether electronics sector is expected, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said on Saturday ahead of the release of figures today.
Also due to a relatively low comparison base over the same period of last year, orders received by exporters could continue to grow year-on-year for the seventh consecutive month, the ministry said.
Export orders in July totaled US$38.18 billion, up 5.7 percent from a year earlier, but down 1.6 percent from June. Taiwan-made electronics products grew 11.2 percent in July from a year earlier to US$9.57 billion, serving as one of the largest export categories of the nation.
The ministry said that as international brands are gearing up to upgrade their smartphone models, global demand for handheld devices has been on the rise, while applications in 4G telecom services and the Internet of Things have also been broadening.
Under such favorable circumstances, local semiconductor suppliers are expected to report an increase in orders placed from overseas last month, the ministry said.
It said that the global PC market is riding a wave of replacements due to the end of Microsoft’s support for the Windows XP operating system, which has given an additional boost to the nation’s export orders.
In the first seven months of this year, export orders rose US$258.64 billion, up 5.5 percent from a year earlier.
The ministry also said it was likely that Taiwan will report an improvement in the industrial production index as the global economy is on the road to recovery, which is boosting global demand.
In July, the local industrial production index rose 6.08 percent to hit a record high of 112.26. It was the sixth consecutive month for the index to break its own record.
The ministry said that due to solid demand for mobile devices, the nation’s semiconductor and optoelectronics sectors could witness shipments growing, while the steel sector has been operating at full capacity.
In the first seven months of this year, Taiwan’s industrial production index grew 4.73 percent from the same period a year earlier.
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