The nation’s exports rose 13 percent year-on-year to US$25.83 billion last month, expanding at a double-digit percentage after a two-month hiatus as demand for electronic components used in next-generation technology emerged, the Ministry of Finance said in a report yesterday.
Outbound shipments might continue to gain momentum for the rest of the year, albeit at a slower pace as the low-base effect tapers off, the ministry said.
“Demand for almost all product categories improved, especially for electronic components, as global technology brands started to build inventory for next-generation devices,” Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a news conference.
Photo: CNA
The showing was the second-highest level ever for the month and bucked the traditional slow season.
Shipments of electronic components, which account for 34 percent of overall shipments, expanded 19.5 percent to US$8.89 billion as trading partners around the world increased orders for semiconductors, information and communication technology (ICT) gadgets, flat panels and machine tools, Tsai said.
Taiwan is home to the world’s largest contract chipmakers, chip designers, suppliers of camera lenses, routers and other critical components used in mobile devices, laptops, connected vehicles and Internet of Things applications.
Exports of ICT products jumped 17.2 percent to US$2.93 billion, while optical devices gained 13.4 percent to US$994 million, the report showed.
Continued improvement in the global economy bodes well for consumer electronic products and the introduction of innovative features will help spur demand, Tsai said, alluding to Apple Inc’s expected launch of its latest iPhone this year.
For the quarter ended last month, exports advanced 10.2 percent to US$75.66 billion, slightly better than the forecast made in May by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics.
Imports posted a modest increase of 3.7 percent to US$20 billion last month as the purchase of capital equipment slowed among local firms.
Acquisition of semiconductor equipment, in particular, contracted 25.6 percent to US$1.08 billion, the second consecutive month of decline, the report said.
“It is better to be cautious, because reckless purchases of capital equipment might lead to a capacity glut,” Tsai said.
Imports rose 12 percent to US$63.6 billion in the second quarter, missing the government’s forecast.
China accounted for 40 percent of outbound shipments last month, buying US$10.44 billion worth of electronic components, flat panels and ICT products, among other things, Tsai said.
“That translated into a 21 percent increase from a year earlier, after slowing to a single-digit percentage a month earlier,” Tsai said.
For the first six months, exports grew 12.5 percent to US$147.75 billion, while imports rose 16.5 percent to US$124.9 billion, yielding a trade surplus of US$22.85 billion, the report said.
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
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
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
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