Taiwan’s export orders saw a year-on-year 8.1 percent increase to US$39.04 billion in January, following December last year’s 4.5 percent annual growth, thanks to continual robust demand for handsets, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said yesterday.
On a monthly basis, the figure declined 11.7 percent from the previous month’s US$44.23 billion due to seasonal factors, Department of Statistics Director-General Lin Lee-jen (林麗貞) told a press conference.
Export orders serve as an indication of shipments by Taiwanese firms in the next one to three months.
“Although January is traditionally a slow month, export orders for information technology products, electronics and machinery goods all showed double-digit growth due to launches of new handsets,” Lin said.
Asked about the ministry’s forecast for orders last month, Lin said the figure would likely see a decline from January due to fewer working days because of the Lunar New Year holiday.
While Lin did not provide an estimate of the range of the decline, the figure for last month would be at least 5 percent higher than the same period last year because of the recovering US economy, she said.
Lin said that orders for machinery products rose for the 12th consecutive month in January to US$1.81 billion, mainly driven by increasing demand for industrial automation in China and economic growth in the US.
Petrochemicals were affected by the continual plunge in global crude oil prices, with orders declining 6.8 percent monthly and 11.9 percent annually to US$1.74 billion in January, Lin said.
Also affected by the falling oil prices, the value of export orders for Taiwan’s rubber and plastic products remained weak in January, dropping 8.4 percent monthly and 4.3 percent annually to US$1.85 billion, Lin said.
In January, Taiwan’s export orders from the US, China and Hong Kong, Europe and ASEAN all increased annually. However, orders from Japan dropped 22.6 percent year-on-year to US$2.47 billion.
Lin said that export orders to Japan declined for the fifth consecutive month in January, plunging to the lowest monthly level for five years.
Lin attributed the lower orders to weaker television and computer industries amid rising competition from Chinese and South Korean rivals. Some Japanese companies have gradually withdrawn from those businesses and therefore cut their orders to Taiwanese firms, she added.
In addition, as several Japanese companies were merged by Singaporean firms, export orders from ASEAN increased, while orders declined from Japan in January, according to Lin.
Export orders from Europe jumped 16.8 percent annually to US$8.55 billion in January, marking the 18th consecutive month of annual growth, due to robust demand for information technology and electronics products in Europe, Lin said.
The US remained Taiwan’s most significant export destination, and export orders jumped 24.7 percent annually to US$10.7 billion in January, driven by strong demand for electronics and information technology products, she said.
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