The nation’s export orders rose faster than economists expected last month, as slower Chinese economic growth and Europe’s debt crisis failed to dampen overseas demand.
Orders, an indication of shipments in the next one to three months, increased 22.48 percent from a year earlier after a 34.03 percent gain in May, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a report yesterday. The median estimate of 15 economists in a Bloomberg News survey was for a 21.7 percent gain.
GROWING DEMAND
PHOTO: MAURICE TSAI, BLOOMBERG
“External demand for Taiwan’s electronic products is growing as stores build inventory for August and September when schools reopen,” Hsu Kuo-an (徐國安), an economist at Capital Securities Corp (群益證券) said. “The economic recovery will continue to help support growth.”
Chinese demand for Taiwanese products, such as computer chips and televisions, helped to stoke a 13.3 percent expansion in the nation’s economy in the first quarter, the fastest pace in more than three decades.
Taiwan’s central bank raised borrowing costs unexpectedly on June 24 for the first time since 2008, increasing the discount rate on 10-day loans to 1.375 percent from a record-low 1.25 percent. It said the move reflected the nation’s economic recovery, including export gains.
NEW HIGHS
The value of export orders climbed to US$34.22 billion last month from US$33.73 billion in May, yesterday’s report showed. Orders may rise to a record US$400 billion this year, Huang Ji-Shih (黃吉實), head of the economic ministry’s statistics division, told a media briefing yesterday.
Orders for electronics rose 26.91 percent last month after a 32.75 percent increase in May, yesterday’s report showed. Demand for precision goods rose 25.21 percent.
CLOUDS AHEAD
Recent data have indicated a weaker US economic recovery and a slowdown in Chinese growth as Europe’s financial troubles continue, clouding the outlook for Asian exports.
The US economy grew at a 2.7 percent annual rate in the first quarter, less than an earlier estimate of 3 percent, according to US Commerce Department figures published last month.
Europe is stress testing its 91 largest banks this month to restore confidence following the region’s sovereign debt crisis.
China’s economic expansion eased to 10.3 percent in the second quarter from 11.9 percent in the first quarter, the country’s statistics bureau said last week, after the government moved to temper growth.
Export orders to China and Hong Kong combined rose 15.54 percent last month from a year earlier, after a 34.34 percent gain in May, the data showed. Orders from the US climbed 17.44 percent from a year earlier, after a 20.32 percent rise in May.
SEMICONDUCTORS: The German laser and plasma generator company will expand its local services as its specialized offerings support Taiwan’s semiconductor industries Trumpf SE + Co KG, a global leader in supplying laser technology and plasma generators used in chip production, is expanding its investments in Taiwan in an effort to deeply integrate into the global semiconductor supply chain in the pursuit of growth. The company, headquartered in Ditzingen, Germany, has invested significantly in a newly inaugurated regional technical center for plasma generators in Taoyuan, its latest expansion in Taiwan after being engaged in various industries for more than 25 years. The center, the first of its kind Trumpf built outside Germany, aims to serve customers from Taiwan, Japan, Southeast Asia and South Korea,
Gasoline and diesel prices at domestic fuel stations are to fall NT$0.2 per liter this week, down for a second consecutive week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) announced yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to drop to NT$26.4, NT$27.9 and NT$29.9 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, the companies said in separate statements. The price of premium diesel is to fall to NT$24.8 per liter at CPC stations and NT$24.6 at Formosa pumps, they said. The price adjustments came even as international crude oil prices rose last week, as traders
SIZE MATTERS: TSMC started phasing out 8-inch wafer production last year, while Samsung is more aggressively retiring 8-inch capacity, TrendForce said Chipmakers are expected to raise prices of 8-inch wafers by up to 20 percent this year on concern over supply constraints as major contract chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co gradually retire less advanced wafer capacity, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. It is the first significant across-the-board price hike since a global semiconductor correction in 2023, the Taipei-based market researcher said in a report. Global 8-inch wafer capacity slid 0.3 percent year-on-year last year, although 8-inch wafer prices still hovered at relatively stable levels throughout the year, TrendForce said. The downward trend is expected to continue this year,
POWERING UP: PSUs for AI servers made up about 50% of Delta’s total server PSU revenue during the first three quarters of last year, the company said Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) reported record-high revenue of NT$161.61 billion (US$5.11 billion) for last quarter and said it remains positive about this quarter. Last quarter’s figure was up 7.6 percent from the previous quarter and 41.51 percent higher than a year earlier, and largely in line with Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co’s (元大投顧) forecast of NT$160 billion. Delta’s annual revenue last year rose 31.76 percent year-on-year to NT$554.89 billion, also a record high for the company. Its strong performance reflected continued demand for high-performance power solutions and advanced liquid-cooling products used in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers,
RSS