Exports hit US$21.25 billion last month on the back of strong international demand for Taiwanese information and communications products, plastics and chemicals, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
Exports increased 27.3 percent to US$21.25 billion last month, marking its highest ever on record for the month of February, said Lin Lee-jen (林麗貞), director of the ministry’s statistics department.
Compared with US$25.35 billion in January, exports dropped 16.2 percent last month partly because of fewer working days because of the Lunar New Year holiday, the ministry’s data showed.
Record-high exports were reported in May last year at US$25.47 billion.
“February exports were fueled by strong demand from Asian emerging markets and a better US economy amid lower a unemployment rate. The rising crude oil and raw materials costs also helped send prices of Taiwanese chemicals and plastics higher,” Lin said.
ASEAN, CHINA
Exports to six ASEAN emerging markets climbed 42.4 percent from a year earlier to US$3.58 billion last month, while those to China — Taiwan’s largest trading market — expanded 31.8 percent year-on-year to US$8.72 billion, ministry data showed.
Exports to the US climbed 24.5 percent to US$2.36 billion last month, while those to Europe rose 11.4 percent to US$2.15 billion.
Meanwhile, imports gained 28.7 percent year-on-year to US$20.33 billion last month — also a record high for February, Lin said, resulting in a trade surplus of US$920 million, a decrease from US$1.88 billion in January.
Last month’s trade data “turned out to be more robust than expected,” Tony Phoo (符銘財), chief economist at Standard Chartered Bank in Taipei, said in a note yesterday.
AREA OF CONCERN
Worrying though, Phoo wrote, was the decline in the trade surplus, which shows the negative impact from higher raw material and crude oil prices — two factors he said would act as a drag on GDP growth in the first quarter.
Lin said the trade prospect for the three months ending this month was looking upbeat, thanks to the rollout of a slew of new technology gadgets, such as tablet PCs and smartphones.
These gadgets would fuel international demand for Taiwanese electronics and components.
However, Lin said there were uncertainties ahead because global demand could be impacted by political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa.
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