Export orders grew at the fastest pace in almost a year last month amid rising global demand for personal computers and liquid-crystal display panels.
Orders, indicative of actual shipments in one to three months, gained 24.58 percent from a year earlier to US$24.61 billion after climbing 21.56 percent in October, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement yesterday. Industrial production increased 9.03 percent, after climbing 9.3 percent in October, but slipped 0.11 percent from October.
"Momentum has been consolidated at quite a high level with strength coming mainly from mainland Chinese demand," Ben Simpfendorfer, strategist at Royal Bank of Scotland in Hong Kong, said before the release. "This should be sustained through the first quarter of next year."
Last month's increase in export orders was the biggest since December last year, adjusting for distortions caused by the Lunar New Year holidays.
In the 11 months to November, export orders totalled US$231.8 billion dollars, up 18.70 percent from the same period last year, the ministry said.
"The strong growth in the second half should extend to the first half of next year," said Chang Yaw-tzong (張耀宗), statistics chief at the Ministry of Economic Affairs, said at a press briefing yesterday.
Export orders from Hong Kong climbed 27.25 percent to US$5.73 billion, the ministry's statement showed. Most Taiwan-made goods bound for China are shipped via Hong Kong.
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