The value of export orders dropped 5.9 percent annually and 4.1 percent monthly to US$35.79 billion last month, dragged down mainly by declining orders from China and Hong Kong, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
The value of orders from China and Hong Kong fell by US$1.17 billion from a year earlier to US$8.98 billion last month, accounting for 52.7 percent of the US$2.22 billion annual drop in overall export orders last month, the ministry said.
“The increasing localization of supply chains in China is an issue that we have to face seriously,” Department of Statistics Director-General Lin Lee-jen (林麗貞) told a news conference in Taipei, adding that last month’s data on orders from China and Hong Kong marked the fifth consecutive month of decline, excluding Lunar New Year holiday factors.
Photo: CNA
Weaker-than-expected growth in China has also affected demand for Taiwanese goods, Lin said. She said it would be worth observing if the annual decline in export orders from China and Hong Kong would extend throughout the year, citing the faster-than-expected rise of supply chains in China.
“Aside from flat panels, we noticed that Taiwan’s integrated circuit design, packaging and testing service sectors have also been facing increasing challenges in China,” Lin said.
In addition, the weak demand for PCs in Europe and handheld devices in emerging markets also affected the performance of the nation’s electronics and precision instruments industries, Lin said.
Apart from the information and communication technology industry, which saw a 2.3 percent annual increase in orders to US$9.7 billion, the ministry’s report showed broad declines in orders for electronics, precision instruments, basic metals, petrochemicals and machinery products last month from the same period a year ago.
By country, the US was still Taiwan’s largest export destination, with orders increasing 5.2 percent to US$9.79 billion from the same period a year ago, Lin said.
However, the annual growth rate for US orders was slower than the 14 percent registered a month earlier, an indicator of weakening demand as the product cycle for Apple Inc’s iPhone nears a refresh, Lin said.
Orders from China and Hong Kong, Europe, ASEAN and Japan all saw an annual decline last month, with orders from China and Hong Kong and Japan plunging by double-digit percentage points from a year ago, Lin said.
Lin said the ministry forecasts the value of this month’s export orders to be flat or decline from last month’s US$35.79 billion. As such, the value of export orders this month will likely decline from last year’s US$38.82 billion, she said.
The value of export orders totaled US$180.47 billion in the first five months of this year, 0.6 percent less than in the same period last year, the ministry’s data showed.
The total value for the first half of this year is expected to be less than the US$220.47 billion in the same period last year, Lin said.
However, Lin said the ministry remains optimistic on export orders in the second half of this year, citing the upcoming launches of Microsoft Corp’s Windows 10 operating system and new Apple products.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique