The nation’s exports last month fell 1.8 percent from a year earlier to US$22.56 billion because the Mid-Autumn Festival and two typhoons reduced the number of working days and disrupted shipments, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
The dip, while shallow and most likely short-lived, shows the domestic economy’s recovery is fragile and slow.
“The decline is not a surprise in light of the reduced working days last month, shorter only than the month that has the Lunar New Year holidays,” Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) said.
IMPORTS
Growth momentum remains on course and is increasing toward the end of the year, as evidenced by robust electronics sales and capital equipment imports, Tsai said.
Imports, a critical economic barometer because most stem from export needs, increased 0.7 percent to US$18.19 billion last month from a year earlier, ending six quarters of downturn, as local semiconductor firms bought new machinery to upgrade their production technology, Tsai said.
Capital equipment imports amounted to US$3.4 billion last month, an annual increase of 17.1 percent, with semiconductor equipment accounting for 45.6 percent, the ministry’s report showed.
However, Taiwan’s trade surplus for last month was just US$4.37 million, down 11.2 percent from a year earlier, the report said.
Shipments of electronic components grew 16.8 percent to US$8.42 billion last month, thanks to fast-growing demand for chips used in handsets and Internet of Things applications, the report said.
Most other product categories registered negative cyclical movements, as plastic exports fell 9.9 percent, chemical products plunged 15.8 percent and mineral products dropped 15.7 percent, the report said.
While annual maintenance by major plastic makers contributed to the declines, the drops also reflect a staggering and uneven recovery at home and abroad as the impact of cheaper oil prices subsides, Tsai said.
SHIPMENTS
China, the largest destination for Taiwanese exports, is the only trading partner that bought more goods from Taiwan last month compared with a year earlier, the report said.
Shipments to ASEAN markets fell 3.6 percent, while those to the US dropped 5.2 percent and those to Europe plunged 11 percent due to weaker demand for transportation and electric machineries, among other reasons, the report said.
Tsai said the 11 percent decline in shipments to Europe marked the first double-digit retreat this year, as demand for transportation and electric machinery fell.
During the July-to-September quarter, exports increased 0.1 percent to US$71.31 billion, missing the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics forecast, Tsai said, blaming the typhoons for the gap.
For the first nine months of the year, exports totaled US$202.63 billion, a decline of 6.1 percent from the same period of last year.
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