Taiwan's exports last month grew at the fastest pace in three months as overseas demand for local electronics products recovered from a slump caused by higher oil prices.
Shipments rose 5.3 percent from a year earlier to US$15.43 billion after gaining 3.1 percent in June, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday in a statement.
Imports rose 9.7 percent to US$15.1 billion, leaving a trade surplus of US$330 million for the month, the ministry said. Imports were expected to increase 8.6 percent, according to a Bloomberg survey.
Sales increases
Improving exports are increasing the sales of companies such as AU Optronics Corp (
Overseas sales account for about half of the US$305 billion economy, which expanded in the three months to March at the slowest pace since the second quarter of 2003.
"Demand for the island's electronics products is improving, but the overall overseas demand for Taiwanese goods is still weak due to concerns about high interest rates and energy costs," Hsu Kuo-chung (許國鐘), statistics chief at the Ministry of Finance said at a press briefing.
AU Optronics, the world's third-largest maker of liquid-crystal displays for computers and televisions, on Aug. 3 reported its first profit in three quarters as demand for its flat panels recovered.
The Hsinchu-based company expects shipments of panels with screens measuring 10 inches or more to grow 10 percent in the current quarter from the previous one.
The nation's exports of information-technology and telecommunications products fell 12 percent to US$818 million after sliding 25 percent in June. Exports of computer chips and other electronic parts, which make up the biggest share of Taiwan's overseas sales, rose 11 percent to US$3.8 billion after increasing 6.7 percent in June.
MediaTek, the world's largest maker of chips for DVD players, had a better-than-expected profit for the second quarter on demand for chips used in mobile phones and lower costs.
The Hsinchu-based company forecast on Aug. 3 that third-quarter revenue would rise 15 percent from the previous three months.
Sustainable economic growth in China and the US, Taiwan's two biggest export markets, should boost the pace of export growth in countries such as Taiwan and South Korea in the second half, said economists such as Yuanta Core Pacific Securities' (
South Korea, which, like Taiwan, counts electronics as its No. 1 export, had an 11.4-percent gain in overseas shipments last month, the biggest rise in four months, as it sold more computer chips, cars and ships, according to government figures released on Aug. 1.
US exports
Taiwan's exports to the US fell 1 percent to US$12.4 billion last month after dropping 2.5 percent in June, yesterday's report showed. The US economy grew at an annual pace of 3.4 percent from April through June, the ninth consecutive quarter exceeding 3 percent, the US Commerce Department said on July 29.
Sales to China and Hong Kong rose 7 percent to US$5.96 billion after rising 7.1 percent in June, the finance ministry said.
China's economy, the world's seventh largest, is expected to show "stable, relatively fast" growth in the second half of the year, its central bank said last Thursday.
The economy expanded by 9.5 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier.
Shipments to Japan, the world's largest economy after the US, increased 6 percent to US$1.2 billion after gaining 7.5 percent in June.
Sales to Europe rose 1.4 percent to US$1.7 billion, after falling 10 percent in June.
Taiwan's economy in the second half to December should benefit from better-than-expected economic growth in the United States, a recovery in the tech sector and the government's economy-stimulus measures, Hsu said.
Factors
Among factors affecting Taiwan's economy will be high crude oil prices globally, US interest rate trends, concerns about a further appreciation of the Chinese yuan and increases in the island's offshore production of high-tech products in percentage terms against total output of high-tech devices, the official said.
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