Exports rose 10.6 percent last month year-on-year to an all time-high of US$22.22 billion, mainly on increased Asian demand, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
Orders from Hong Kong, China and some Southeast Asian nations helped power the performance. In August, exports grew 10.5 percent to US$21.40 billion.
Last month's figure was the fourth consecutive month a new record was set, the ministry said.
"China and other emerging markets in Asia will continue to offset weakening demand in Europe and the US in the fourth quarter," Tia Lin, an economist at First Taisec Securities (
Exports to China and Hong Kong combined rose 19.7 percent last month, faster than August's 14.8 percent.
The statistics also showed shipments to Southeast Asia rose 19.1 percent last month, after climbing 28.4 percent in August. US-bound goods fell 8.3 percent, following an 11.5 percent drop the previous month, while exports to Europe rose 10.8 percent, after August's 8.5 percent growth.
Meanwhile, imports rose 10.5 percent year-on-year to US$19.07 billion, against a 0.3 percent decline to US$18.10 billion in the preceding month, the ministry's statistics showed.
Imports for the month were the second-highest on record, surpassed only by the US$20.73 billion recorded in July.
The trade surplus stood at US$3.15 billion last month, narrowing from US$3.30 billion in August, the statistics showed.
For the first nine months of the year, the trade surplus stood at US$17.44 billion, up 28.1 percent from the same period a year earlier.
Exports in the nine-month period rose 8.3 percent to US$178.74 billion, while imports rose 6.5 percent to US$161.30 billion.
In other developments, Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
Chang made the estimate during a speech at a ceremony marking the inauguration of four new products by the Taiwan Futures Exchange -- GRETAI Securities Market stock index futures; GRETAI Securities Market stock index options; non-electronics, non-finance sub-index futures as well as non-electronics, non-finance sub-index options.
He said Taiwan's overall economic growth could top at least 4.58 percent this year with the stock market's help. The market has continued to attract foreign funds that have reached a seven-year high so far this year.
FALLING BEHIND: Samsung shares have declined more than 20 percent this year, as the world’s largest chipmaker struggles in key markets and plays catch-up to rival SK Hynix Samsung Electronics Co is laying off workers in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand as part of a plan to reduce its global headcount by thousands of jobs, sources familiar with the situation said. The layoffs could affect about 10 percent of its workforces in those markets, although the numbers for each subsidiary might vary, said one of the sources, who asked not to be named because the matter is private. Job cuts are planned for other overseas subsidiaries and could reach 10 percent in certain markets, the source said. The South Korean company has about 147,000 in staff overseas, more than half
Taipei is today suspending its US$2.5 trillion stock market as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed-income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Yesterday, schools and offices were closed in several cities and counties in southern and eastern Taiwan, including in the key industrial port city of Kaohsiung. Taiwan, which started canceling flights, ship sailings and some train services earlier this week, has wind and rain advisories in place for much of the island. It regularly experiences typhoons, and in July shut offices and schools as
An Indian factory producing iPhone components resumed work yesterday after a fire that halted production — the third blaze to disrupt Apple Inc’s local supply chain since the start of last year. Local industrial behemoth Tata Group’s plant in Tamil Nadu, which was shut down by the unexplained fire on Saturday, is a key linchpin of Apple’s nascent supply chain in the country. A spokesperson for subsidiary Tata Electronics Pvt yesterday said that the company would restart work in “many areas of the facility today.” “We’ve been working diligently since Saturday to support our team and to identify the cause of the fire,”
TECH PARTNERSHIP: The deal with Arizona-based Amkor would provide TSMC with advanced packing and test capacities, a requirement to serve US customers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is collaborating with Amkor Technology Inc to provide local advanced packaging and test capacities in Arizona to address customer requirements for geographical flexibility in chip manufacturing. As part of the agreement, TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, would contract turnkey advanced packaging and test services from Amkor at their planned facility in Peoria, Arizona, a joint statement released yesterday said. TSMC would leverage these services to support its customers, particularly those using TSMC’s advanced wafer fabrication facilities in Phoenix, Arizona, it said. The companies would jointly define the specific packaging technologies, such as TSMC’s Integrated
RSS