The nation's exports rose 27.4 percent in September from a year earlier to US$11.28 billion in reflection of a low comparison base last year after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the US, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
This compared with a rise of 15.5 percent recorded in August, and represented the largest increase in exports since the 35.5 percent rise in September 2000.
Sales to Asian markets in September were up 36.6 percent from a year earlier with exports to Hong Kong, China and South Korea up at least 27 percent, the ministry said.
`Rising exports to China help cushion the effect of slowing shipments to the US,'' said Ellen Lee, an economist at International Securities Co (國際證券).
While China surpassed the US as Taiwan's biggest export market last year, local exporters are still vulnerable to slowing US demand. "Most of the China-bound shipments are re-exported to the US," Lee said. "Ultimately, the island can't escape the effects of slowing growth there."
Last week, the US-based Advanced Micro Devices Inc, the world's second-biggest maker of personal-computer processors, said slack demand and increasing inventory caused third-quarter sales to drop more than forecast.
That's hurting Taiwan-based electronics suppliers.
``Everything started softening from the second quarter,'' said Janet Chen, a project manager at Siliconware Investment Co, a unit of Siliconware Precision Industries Co (矽品精密), the world's third- largest computer-chip assembler. ``You can sense there's no firm pickup.''
Siliconware Precision packages chips for customers such as Via Technologies Inc (
Shipments of computer chips and other electronics, which make up the biggest share of the total, rose 37 percent. Sales of mobile phones and other telecommunications goods gained 35 percent.
In September, imports rose 36.3 percent from a year earlier to US$10.6 billion after a 18.8 percent rise posted in August.
The increase for imports in September marked the highest gain since a 40.4 percent growth in September 2000.
The ministry said the trade surplus in September fell 36.5 percent from a year earlier to US$690 million, compared with a 0.8 percent rise in August.
In the first nine months of this year, exports rose 5.1 percent from a year earlier to US$95.63 billion, while imports were up 2.6 percent at US$83.19 billion.
During the nine-month period, the trade surplus rose 25.5 percent year-on-year to US$12.4 billion.
The ministry's statistics director Hsu Kuo-chung (
"Exports in the third quarter rose 19 percent from a year earlier, compared with our forecast of 17.9 percent, while imports increased an in-line 23.2 percent," he said.
While Taiwan's external trade could be affected by the global economy, the labor problems on US West Coast ports and the tension in the Middle East, the government's earlier forecasts for 7.3 percent year-on-year growth in fourth quarter exports and a 17 percent increase in imports remained in place, Hsu said.
Anna Bhobho, a 31-year-old housewife from rural Zimbabwe, was once a silent observer in her home, excluded from financial and family decisionmaking in the deeply patriarchal society. Today, she is a driver of change in her village, thanks to an electric tricycle she owns. In many parts of rural sub-Saharan Africa, women have long been excluded from mainstream economic activities such as operating public transportation. However, three-wheelers powered by green energy are reversing that trend, offering financial opportunities and a newfound sense of importance. “My husband now looks up to me to take care of a large chunk of expenses,
SECTOR LEADER: TSMC can increase capacity by as much as 20 percent or more in the advanced node part of the foundry market by 2030, an analyst said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to lead its peers in the advanced 2-nanometer process technology, despite competition from Samsung Electronics Co and Intel Corp, TrendForce Corp analyst Joanne Chiao (喬安) said. TSMC’s sophisticated products and its large production scale are expected to allow the company to continue dominating the global 2-nanometer process market this year, Chiao said. The world’s largest contract chipmaker is scheduled to begin mass production of chips made on the 2-nanometer process in its Hsinchu fab in the second half of this year. It would also hold a ceremony on Monday next week to
TECH CLUSTER: The US company’s new office is in the Shalun Smart Green Energy Science City, a new AI industry base and cybersecurity hub in southern Taiwan US chip designer Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) yesterday launched an office in Tainan’s Gueiren District (歸仁), marking a significant milestone in the development of southern Taiwan’s artificial intelligence (AI) industry, the Tainan City Government said in a statement. AMD Taiwan general manager Vincent Chern (陳民皓) presided over the opening ceremony for the company’s new office at the Shalun Smart Green Energy Science City (沙崙智慧綠能科學城), a new AI industry base and cybersecurity hub in southern Taiwan. Facilities in the new office include an information processing center, and a research and development (R&D) center, the Tainan Economic Development Bureau said. The Ministry
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday signed a letter of intent with Alaska Gasline Development Corp (AGDC), expressing an interest to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) and invest in the latter’s Alaska LNG project, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. Under the agreement, CPC is to participate in the project’s upstream gas investment to secure stable energy resources for Taiwan, the ministry said. The Alaska LNG project is jointly promoted by AGDC and major developer Glenfarne Group LLC, as Alaska plans to export up to 20 million tonnes of LNG annually from 2031. It involves constructing an 1,290km
RSS