The nation’s export orders climbed higher than expected last month by 6.9 percent year-on-year to US$45.92 billion, supported by robust demand for notebook computers, servers, networking devices and an international company’s newly launched smartphone, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
The result beat the ministry’s forecast of an annual increase of between 1.3 and 3.6 percent, and marked the highest monthly figure since the ministry started collecting data in 1953, the ministry said.
On a monthly comparison base, export orders — indicative of outbound shipments in one to three months — rose 12.6 percent, the ministry’s data showed.
“Orders for notebooks and servers were stronger than we expected, making them the main growth drivers,” Department of Statistics Director-General Lin Lee-jen (林麗貞) told a news conference.
Orders from a global company that launched a new smartphone also showed monthly and annual increases last month, but the scale of the growth was slightly softer than the department’s estimate, Lin added.
Orders for information technology and communications products increased 0.3 percent annually to US$14.67 billion last month, while electronics goods increased 1.2 percent to US$11.73 billion.
The results of both sectors — the pillars of last month’s export orders — marked record monthly highs in their respective categories, the ministry’s data showed.
Orders for optical products — flat panels and camera lenses — rose 6.7 percent year-on-year to US$2.31 billion last month, the 11th straight month showing an annual increase, the data showed.
The orders for optical products were fueled by higher inventory buildup demand for larger flat panels ahead of the year-end holiday season, Lin said, adding that a rise in the average selling price of small flat panels used in smartphones also lent support.
Orders for basic metals, machinery goods, and plastics and rubber products all rose by double-digit percentage points last month from the previous year, driven by the recovering global economy, Lin said.
Petrochemical goods surged stronger than estimated at 23.3 percent annually to US$1.81 billion last month, benefiting from US orders, as the country’s petrochemical production was affected by recent hurricanes, she said.
The US was the largest market for Taiwan’s goods last month, with orders rising 2.2 percent annually to US$13.19 billion on the back of increased demand for game consoles and other electronics devices, Lin said.
The ministry said China and Hong Kong placed US$11.15 billion in orders last month, up 14.6 percent year-on-year, driven by higher needs for electronics goods, optical products and petrochemicals. Orders from Japan rose 26.6 percent to US$2.98 billion, while orders from ASEAN members fell 1.6 percent to US$4.3 billion.
In the first nine months of this year, cumulative export orders reached US$349.04 billion, up 10.1 percent from the previous year, the ministry said.
For this month, export orders are forecast to grow by between 5.4 percent and 7.8 percent year-on-year to between US$45 billion and US$46 billion, Lin said.
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