The nation’s exports last month contracted 3.3 percent from a year earlier to US$25.83 billion as firms cut inventory to cope with a global economic slowdown, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
Inventory adjustments might persist this month and next month, but might ease next quarter if the US and China reach an agreement to end their tariff dispute.
“Exports saw the sixth consecutive month of decline, as demand for semiconductors remained languid,” Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) said.
Taiwan is home to the world’s largest suppliers of chips used in smartphones and high-end computing devices, with chip shipments accounting for 27.7 percent of total exports last month.
Major technology firms gave positive business guidance for the second half, but the forecast could prove futile if US President Donald Trump makes good on his threat to raise tariffs on US$200 billion of Chinese goods, Tsai said.
The spat has led international research institutes to trim their forecasts for global GDP growth.
Exports of electronics, which made up 31.4 percent of the nation’s total outbound shipments, fell 5 percent to US$811.5 billion, weighed by sluggish demand for solar cells, printed circuit boards, diodes, capacitors and resisters apart from chips, the ministry’s report showed.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) last month said that inventory adjustments might end this quarter, suggesting that recovery is around the corner, Tsai said.
The global slowdown also affected non-technology sectors, the report showed.
Exports of base metal, plastic and chemical products retreated by 9.9 to 13.9 percent from their levels a year earlier, it found.
A safety incident and annual maintenance at Formosa Plastic Group (台塑集團) were also to blame for the poor showing, Tsai said.
Exports to the US grew 21.5 percent last month, but shipments to other major destinations took a downturn in line with uneven global economic performance, the report said.
Imports continued to fare better with a 2.6 percent gain from a year earlier to US$23.15 billion, the report added.
Imports of capital equipment picked up 16.5 percent, with those by semiconductor firms growing faster at 25.6 percent, it said, as local technology firms sought to expand capacity and maintain their technology leadership in the global market.
The latest foreign trade data suggested a trade surplus of US$2.69 billion, a 35.4 percent decline from a year earlier.
For the first four months of this year, exports fell 4 percent from the same period last year, while imports remained flat, the ministry said.
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