The nation’s exports last month shrank 1.3 percent year-on-year to US$25.24 billion, the lowest since May 2017, as poor shipments of raw materials — due in part to price routs — more than eclipsed robust shipments of electronic components, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
The retreat could worsen to between 4 percent and 6 percent this month as most global nonessential businesses are closed to help contain the COVID-19 pandemic, stalling trade activity, the ministry said.
“Taiwan may feel a sharper pinch from the COVID-19 pandemic going forward, with downside risks looming larger than upside surprises,” Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing in Taipei.
Mineral product shipments tumbled 63.2 percent, the worst decline in history, as unprecedented shutdowns in Europe, the US and parts of Asia saw demand slump, Tsai said.
Exports of textile products fell 37.4 percent following the postponement and cancelation of sports events worldwide, including the Tokyo Summer Olympics originally scheduled for July, she said.
Taichung-based Pou Chen Corp (寶成工業), the world’s largest maker of sports shoes, apparel and accessories for Nike Inc, Adidas AG, Puma AG, New Balance Inc and Timberland Co, has instituted pay cuts and furloughs for its Taiwanese employees from June 1 to cope with sluggish demand.
Shipments of transportation equipment, such as bicycles, fell 21.4 percent as demand dwindled due to people working and attending classes from home, as well as national lockdowns, Tsai said.
Exports to Europe contracted 20.1 percent, while those to ASEAN markets subsided 12.2 percent, a ministry report said.
China appeared to be on course for a recovery with exports increasing 44.4 percent to US$11.2 billion, a 14 percent year-on-year rise, the report said.
Exports to Japan gained 17.5 percent, while those to the US inched up 1.5 percent, thanks to increased demand for electronic components, which rose 24.3 percent to US$10.08 billion, it said.
“Semiconductors, passive components and memory devices experienced a boom on the back of 5G deployment and the stay-at-home economy,” Tsai said.
The outlook for the electronic components sector looks healthy this quarter, but there is concern over a possible supply glut in the second half of the year if the pandemic persists beyond next month, she said, citing major technology firms.
Imports fell 0.5 percent to US$22.97 billion, giving the nation a trade surplus of US$2.27 billion, the ministry said.
Imports of capital equipment increased 16.5 percent, reflecting plans by local companies to upgrade their equipment and expand, it said.
In the first four months of the year, exports rose 2.4 percent to US$103.92 billion, while imports increased 2.7 percent to US$92.14 billion, it added.
NEW IDENTITY: Known for its software, India has expanded into hardware, with its semiconductor industry growing from US$38bn in 2023 to US$45bn to US$50bn India on Saturday inaugurated its first semiconductor assembly and test facility, a milestone in the government’s push to reduce dependence on foreign chipmakers and stake a claim in a sector dominated by China. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened US firm Micron Technology Inc’s semiconductor assembly, test and packaging unit in his home state of Gujarat, hailing the “dawn of a new era” for India’s technology ambitions. “When young Indians look back in the future, they will see this decade as the turning point in our tech future,” Modi told the event, which was broadcast on his YouTube channel. The plant would convert
Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) yesterday said the DRAM supply crunch could extend through 2028, as the artificial intelligence (AI) boom has led the world’s major memory makers to dramatically reduce production of standard DRAM and allocate a significant portion of their capacity for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips. The most severe supply constraints would stretch to the first half of next year due to “very limited” increases in new DRAM capacity worldwide, Nanya Technology president Lee Pei-ing (李培瑛) told a news briefing. The company plans to increase monthly 12-inch wafer capacity to 20,000 in the first half of 2028 after a
Property transactions in the nation’s six special municipalities plunged last month, as a lengthy Lunar New Year holiday combined with ongoing credit tightening dampened housing market activity, data compiled by local land administration offices released on Monday showed. The six cities recorded a total of 10,480 property transfers last month, down 42.5 percent from January and marking the second-lowest monthly level on record, the data showed. “The sharp drop largely reflected seasonal factors and tighter credit conditions,” Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房屋) deputy research manager Chen Chin-ping (陳金萍) said. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday fell in February this year, reducing
New vehicle sales in Taiwan plunged about 37 percent sequentially last month as the long Lunar New Year holiday and 228 Peace Memorial Day holiday cut short the number of working days, along with the lingering uncertainty over import tax cuts on US vehicles, market researcher U-Car said in a report yesterday. New car sales last month totaled 22,043, slumping from 35,073 units in January and down 19.89 percent from 37,515 in February last year, U-Car data showed. Sales of imported luxury cars, led by Mercedes-Benz, plummeted about 45 percent to 3,109 units last month from 5,663 units in the previous month,
RSS