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.
The US dollar was trading at NT$29.7 at 10am today on the Taipei Foreign Exchange, as the New Taiwan dollar gained NT$1.364 from the previous close last week. The NT dollar continued to rise today, after surging 3.07 percent on Friday. After opening at NT$30.91, the NT dollar gained more than NT$1 in just 15 minutes, briefly passing the NT$30 mark. Before the US Department of the Treasury's semi-annual currency report came out, expectations that the NT dollar would keep rising were already building. The NT dollar on Friday closed at NT$31.064, up by NT$0.953 — a 3.07 percent single-day gain. Today,
‘SHORT TERM’: The local currency would likely remain strong in the near term, driven by anticipated US trade pressure, capital inflows and expectations of a US Fed rate cut The US dollar is expected to fall below NT$30 in the near term, as traders anticipate increased pressure from Washington for Taiwan to allow the New Taiwan dollar to appreciate, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) chief economist Lin Chi-chao (林啟超) said. Following a sharp drop in the greenback against the NT dollar on Friday, Lin told the Central News Agency that the local currency is likely to remain strong in the short term, driven in part by market psychology surrounding anticipated US policy pressure. On Friday, the US dollar fell NT$0.953, or 3.07 percent, closing at NT$31.064 — its lowest level since Jan.
The New Taiwan dollar and Taiwanese stocks surged on signs that trade tensions between the world’s top two economies might start easing and as US tech earnings boosted the outlook of the nation’s semiconductor exports. The NT dollar strengthened as much as 3.8 percent versus the US dollar to 30.815, the biggest intraday gain since January 2011, closing at NT$31.064. The benchmark TAIEX jumped 2.73 percent to outperform the region’s equity gauges. Outlook for global trade improved after China said it is assessing possible trade talks with the US, providing a boost for the nation’s currency and shares. As the NT dollar
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday met with some of the nation’s largest insurance companies as a skyrocketing New Taiwan dollar piles pressure on their hundreds of billions of dollars in US bond investments. The commission has asked some life insurance firms, among the biggest Asian holders of US debt, to discuss how the rapidly strengthening NT dollar has impacted their operations, people familiar with the matter said. The meeting took place as the NT dollar jumped as much as 5 percent yesterday, its biggest intraday gain in more than three decades. The local currency surged as exporters rushed to
RSS