The biennial Taipei International Machine Tool Show is scheduled to open tomorrow with a greater number of local companies joining the show in an effort to revive business following last year’s slump and take advantage of the gradual global economic recovery.
Nine-hundred-and-sixty machine tool companies are set to showcase their new products at 5,300 booths this year, an increase from 928 companies and 5,152 booths in 2011, the show’s co-organizer Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) said in a statement released on Tuesday last week.
About 5,500 visitors from overseas are expected to attend this year's show, up 8.5 percent from the 2011 fair, the statement said.
In January, the value of local machine tool exports shrank 13.3 percent to US$287.27 million, from US$331.34 million during the same month last year, according to the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI, 台灣機器工業公會).
The value of exports to Thailand, the third-largest export destination after the US and China, plunged 21.7 percent annually to US$18.663 million, according to TAMI.
The association blamed the decline on orders lost to Japanese companies, whose orders increased because of the recent depreciation of the Japanese yen versus the US dollar.
“Local machine tool manufacturers received fewer orders in the fourth quarter of last year because of the economic downturn,” a representative of Awea Mechantronic Co Ltd (亞崴機電), who declined to be named, said by telephone.
Janaury’s revenue was also affected by slow demand in last quarter as it takes between three and fourth months to ship products for new orders, the Awea representative said.
The company reported consolidated revenue of NT$224.34 million in January, down 16.29 percent from NT$268 million a year previously, according to its filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
According to the representative, Awea expects revenue for last month to improve as economic conditions continue to, which could lead to increased capital investment by companies and boost the demand for machine tools.
Chevalier Falcon Machine Tools Co (福裕) said it aims to take advantage of the economic recovery in China and the growth of the energy industry in the US to secure as many orders as possible during its attendance at this year's machine tool show.
The company's consolidated revenue dropped 19.26 percent to NT$159.47 million (US$5.38 million) in January, from NT$197.52 million in the same period of last year.
The Taipei International Machine Tool Show is scheduled to run from tomorrow through next Sunday.
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