The ratio of orders fulfilled by Taiwanese manufacturers overseas has consistently declined over the past several months as they shift operations back home, government statistics showed.
Last month, 48.8 percent of all export orders received by Taiwanese firms were produced in their overseas factories, down from 53.7 percent in the previous month and compared with 50.8 percent a year ago, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said on Thursday.
The ratio has continued to decline from September last year, when it was 57 percent, indicating that local companies are relocating production from China and other regions due to tariffs and other cost considerations, the ministry said.
The information technology and communications industry and the mechanical engineering sector led others by reporting that 91.2 percent and 74 percent of their export orders respectively were fulfilled by their overseas production bases last month.
However, those figures also fell for the fourth consecutive month, the data showed.
Other industries — such as base metals, rubber and plastic products, chemicals, electronic goods, and optical and machinery equipment — also saw declining overseas output ranging from 6.4 percent to 40.6 percent last month, the data showed.
The overseas production data came as the ministry on the same day released the latest tallies for export orders — which offer an indication of Taiwan’s products and components shipments to overseas markets over the next one to three months — came in at US$35.31 billion last month, down19.4 percent month-on-month and 12.8 percent year-on-year.
While the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak in China and the slow first quarter could hurt the performance of export orders, Taiwan might still benefit from 5G-driven growth — which is triggering foundry, packaging, testing and printed circuit board demand — and the relocation of supply chains, Yuanta-Polaris Research Institute (元大寶華綜經院) economist Yen Chen-hui (顏承暉) said in a report on Friday.
“The 5G trends that are driving semiconductor-related industries are still the most resilient part of Taiwan’s exports, and even without the coronavirus outbreak, first-quarter exports would still have been subdued due to seasonality and weak pricing,” Yen wrote.
“A temporary decline in external demand may cause a downward revision, but the trends are still intact,” Yen added.
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
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,”
China’s economic planning agency yesterday outlined details of measures aimed at boosting the economy, but refrained from major spending initiatives. The piecemeal nature of the plans announced yesterday appeared to disappoint investors who were hoping for bolder moves, and the Shanghai Composite Index gave up a 10 percent initial gain as markets reopened after a weeklong holiday to end 4.59 percent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dived 9.41 percent. Chinese National Development and Reform Commission Chairman Zheng Shanjie (鄭珊潔) said the government would frontload 100 billion yuan (US$14.2 billion) in spending from the government’s budget for next year in addition
Sales RecORD: Hon Hai’s consolidated sales rose by about 20 percent last quarter, while Largan, another Apple supplier, saw quarterly sales increase by 17 percent IPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) on Saturday reported its highest-ever quarterly sales for the third quarter on the back of solid global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) globally, said it posted NT$1.85 trillion (US$57.93 billion) in consolidated sales in the July-to-September quarter, up 19.46 percent from the previous quarter and up 20.15 percent from a year earlier. The figure beat the previous third-quarter high of NT$1.74 trillion recorded in 2022, company data showed. Due to rising demand for AI, Hon Hai said its cloud and networking division enjoyed strong sales
RSS