The nation’s exports grew 1.2 percent from a year earlier to US$24.12 billion last month, the first upswing since January last year, as the nation benefited from global inventory demand ahead of the launches of next-generation handsets and other electronics, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
The growth momentum could be sustained, as such demand tends to gain strength toward the end of the year, the ministry said.
The latest trade data lent support to a slow, but gradual recovery in the technology cycle, with the pace expected to grow each quarter, the newly appointed Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) said.
Exports are crucial for Taiwan, accounting for 70 percent of its GDP, though most firms produce goods in China and other markets using cheap labor, which waters down real benefits for the nation.
Imports also stabilized with a marginal decline of 0.2 percent from a year earlier to US$20.51 billion (US$651 million), yielding a trade surplus of US$3.61 billion, an annual increase of 9.7 percent, a ministry report said.
“Sustainable or not, the traction might prove to be modest either way this month and beyond, in line with a slack global economy,” Tsai said.
Taiwan emerged from a nine-month economic contraction during the April-to-June quarter with a 0.69 percent increase, thanks to a smaller decline in exports, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said last month.
The agency is due to update its growth forecast on Friday next week. Shipments of electronic components picked up 5.7 percent from a year earlier to US$7.96 billion last month while information and communication gadgets gained 4.8 percent to US$2.61 billion, the report said.
Together, the two categories weighed 43.8 percent of overall exports, the report said.
Local technology firms such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科), chip suppliers for smartphone brands in the US and China, saw robust earnings last quarter and gave upbeat guidance for business going forward, Tsai said.
Mineral exports also swung into positive territory with a 15.6 percent annual increase to US$910 million due to a lower base last year and stabilizing crude prices, Tsai said.
Imports of capital equipment, a critical gauge of private investment, shrank 0.3 percent last month to US$4 billion, but semiconductor firms increased capital spending by 16.5 percent to maintain their edge, Tsai said.
Exports to all trading partners, except the US, logged positive momentum, the report said.
Shipments to China, the largest destination with a 39.8 percent share, rose 3.4 percent to US$9.6 billion last month, and increased 10.2 percent to Japan and by rose 4.5 percent to Europe, the report said.
For the first seven months of the year, exports fell 7.7 percent to US$155.46 billion while imports dropped 9.2 percent to US$127.81 billion, leaving an accumulated trade surplus of US$27.65 billion, the report said.
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