Last month's imports and exports both rose from a year ago, but escalating prices and import volumes of crude oil led to the first trade deficit in 13 months, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
The increases were partly caused by the timing of the Lunar New Year holidays, which fell in February last year but in January this year, leading to different calculation bases.
Overseas sales climbed by 26.4 percent from a year earlier to US$15.47 billion after advancing 4.5 percent in January. Imports shot up by 47 percent to US$16.07 billion after declining 7 percent in the first month of the year, according to the ministry's statistics.
"A trade deficit of US$600 million was recorded last month, making it the first deficit in 13 months since December 2004, when imports surpassed exports by US$510 million," said Lee Li-shu (
Rising costs and import volumes of oil constituted one of the major reasons for this, she said.
The nation imported 38.58 million barrels of crude oil at US$58.45 each last month for a total of US$2.26 billion, soaring by 200 percent from a year earlier, when the nation bought 19.54 million barrels at US$38.43 each.
Increasing imports of electronic parts, chemical products and precision instruments also drove growth of the import value.
However, Taiwan's overseas trade remains solid as the first two months of the year saw an accumulated trade surplus of US$1.72 billion. Imports of capital equipment last month also overturned a downward trend to surge by 22.9 percent year-on-year, which could stimulate domestic investment, Lee said.
Sales to China and Hong Kong climbed 44.5 percent to US$6.23 billion last month after gaining 0.3 percent in January.
Exports of information technology and telecommunications products declined by 1.7 percent to US$700.3 million last month.
As of January, trade figures are now compiled using the International Merchandise Trade Statistics Compilers Manual, the ministry said.
Looking ahead, Lee is confident that the nation's export performance will improve this month, with a high probability of posting a trade surplus.
She cited continued improvement in the employment environment, stable growth in private consumption and rising export orders as growth drivers.
The unemployment rate fell to a five-year low in January at 3.8 percent, as companies such as AU Optronics Corp (友達光電) increased investment to meet rising overseas demand for laptops and televisions.
Export orders also hit US$22.11 billion in January, a 20.01 percent increase from a year ago, according to the government's latest statistics.
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