Exports fell for a sixth consecutive month last month, although the contraction slowed from a month earlier on rush orders from China, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
Custom-cleared exports shrank 28.6 percent, or US$5.03 billion, to US$12.59 billion last month, while imports fell 31.6 percent, or US$5.04 billion, to US$10.92 billion, leaving a trade surplus of US$1.67 billion, Lin Lee-jen (林麗貞), head of the ministry’s statistics department, told a news conference yesterday.
Lin attributed the decline in exports to slumping global demand for electronics and communications products, but said the orders from China helped slow its pace.
Outbound shipments plunged a record 44.1 percent in January, while imports tumbled 56.5 percent.
“Owing to the rush orders, some flat panel and semiconductor makers have improved their equipment capacity,” Lin said. “This helps the nation’s economic recovery, but the outlook remains gloomy elsewhere in the world.”
Shipments to China, including Hong Kong, fell 25.2 percent last month to US$5.02 billion, compared with a 58.6 percent decline in January, the ministry’s report showed.
Meanwhile, exports to the US, the nation’s second-largest trading partner, dropped 24.7 percent to US$1.53 billion, and sales to Europe decreased 34.7 percent to US$1.46 billion, the report said.
Shipments to ASEAN countries fell 36.6 percent to US$1.73 billion, while exports to Japan fell 10.5 percent to US$1.05 billion, the statistics said.
Lin said optical products topped the decline at 56.7 percent, followed by minerals, machinery and electronic products, which reported drops of 31.6 percent, 31.4 percent and 30.1 percent respectively.
Exports in the last two months stood at US$24.96 billion, down 37.2 percent from the same period last year, the lowest level since the beginning of the tally in 1971, the report showed.
Cheng Cheng-mount (鄭貞茂), head economist at Citigroup Taiwan Inc, said that the rush orders benefited only part of the manufacturing industry and would probably have limited effect.
Tony Phoo (符銘財), chief economist at Standard Chartered Bank, voiced similar views.
“While the data did not get worse, it should not be interpreted as a sign of things getting better,” Phoo said. “The third quarter has better prospects as a turning point for the economy.”
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