Export orders last month dipped 6.7 percent from December and 6 percent from a year earlier to US$40.49 billion, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
Orders dropped for a third straight month last month and are likely to remain weak this month, partly due to fewer working days because of the Lunar New Year holiday.
Add in weaker-than-expected demand and depressed oil and commodity prices, export orders are expected to reach between US$31 billion and US$32 billion, translating to a monthly decline of between 21 and 23.4 percent, and an annual drop of 1.4 to 4.5 percent, Department of Statistics Director-General Lin Lee-jen (林麗貞) told a news conference.
The annual pace of decline seems to be subsiding, with last month’s number besting the department’s forecast of a 10 percent fall and December’s 10.5 percent drop, Lin said.
While lackluster smartphone sales affected Taiwan’s technology sector, recent price cuts, promotional efforts and upcoming model launches helped entice purchases, Lin said.
Steady demand for high-speed computing, automotive electronics, artificial intelligence and Internet of Things applications should continue to support tech orders, she said.
Washington and Beijing appear to be making progress toward easing trade tensions, but it is still too early to determine when investment and consumption sentiment would rebound, she added.
A breakdown of last month’s orders by destination showed that orders from the US fell 5.3 percent annually to US$11.18 billion, while those from China and Hong Kong registered a 14.4 percent drop to US$9.8 billion, and Europe fell 1.4 percent to US$8.63 billion.
Separately, three more companies have been approved to join a program to encourage the return of overseas Taiwanese companies, bringing in nearly NT$7 billion (US$227 million) in additional inbound investments, the ministry said.
Taiwan Union Technology Corp (台燿), one of the biggest Taiwanese manufacturers of copper clad laminates for printed-circuit boards, is investing NT$3.5 billion to diversify its production outside of China as part of its preparations to tap into higher-margin opportunities in the race to build 5G networks.
The company is planning to purchase land in Hsinchu to produce leading-edge 5G materials to shorten its production lead time with partners and customers.
Coremax Corp (康普), which manufactures petrochemical catalysts and electronic materials for electric vehicle batteries, is set to invest NT$2 billion to expand its production capacity in Hsinchu and set up a new facility in Miaoli.
Chumpower Machinery Corp (銓寶), a supplier of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) blow molding machines to major global beverage brands, is investing NT$1.2 billion to build and implement smart manufacturing technologies at its upcoming precision parts production plant in the Central Taiwan Science Park (中部科學園區).
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