Export orders rose 17.18 percent last month from a year earlier as demand from China offset weaker US sales, government statistics showed yesterday.
Export orders, indicative of shipments in one to three months, amounted to US$31.89 billion last month, up US$4.68 billion compared with November last year, Huang Ji-shih (黃吉實), director of the Ministry of Economic Affairs' statistics department, told a press briefing yesterday.
That was more than the 16.5 percent median estimate of 13 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. October's gain was 18 percent.
"Orders from Hong Kong and China, estimated at US$90 billion by year-end, exceeded orders from the US for the first time, which is expected to reach US$84 billion by year-end," Huang said.
Lucas Lee, an economist at Mega Securities Co (兆豐證券), also credited Chinese orders.
"Demand from the Greater China region is quite strong," he said.
China is forecasting an economic expansion of 11.5 percent this year, the fastest pace since 1994, as investment and exports surge. The US is in the grip of its worst housing recession in 16 years, cooling demand in Taiwan's second-biggest market after China and Hong Kong. For January through last month, orders rose 15.34 percent.
Last year, Taiwan's full-year orders from the US were US$79.33 billion, higher than the US$75.46 billion worth of orders from Hong Kong and China, Huang said.
Orders from Hong Kong and China surged US$1.42 billion, or 20.53 percent year-on-year, to US$8.32 billion last month. In comparison, orders from the US saw a smaller increase of 9.80 percent last month from a year earlier to US$7.57 billion, the report showed.
Orders on electronics, and information and communications technology products, which account for half of the nation's total orders, respectively saw an 18 and 11.03 percent year-on-year growth last month, Huang said.
Meanwhile, the nation's industrial production index grew 11.13 percent year-on-year last month, with the manufacturing industry snapping a 12.40 percent growth. The electricity, gas and water industry climbed 0.77 percent, while the construction industry decreased by 4.42 percent.
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