Export orders last month again defied expectations by increasing 2.3 percent year-on-year to US$38.53 billion amid robust demand for information and communications technology (ICT) products and electronics, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
“Due to COVID-19 lockdowns, market demand for laptops and tablets, as well as servers and other electronic devices, remained strong... Stronger than our previous predictions,” Department of Statistics Director Huang Yu-ling (黃于玲) told a news conference in Taipei.
The ministry in March had forecast a 6.37 to 10.34 percent annual decline in export orders for last month.
Photo: Huang Pei-chun, Taipei Times
Different from customs-cleared exports, export orders are a gauge of how actual exports are likely to perform in one to three months, the ministry said.
Orders for ICT products last month surged 18.6 percent to a record-high US$12.49 billion, with the largest contributors being Europe (36.3 percent) and the US (35.6 percent), ministry data showed.
“Orders from the US, our biggest [overall] customer last month, totaled US$10.95 billion [in all categories combined], a record high,” Huang said, adding that orders from Europe also hit a record high of US$8.25 billion.
Demand due to teleworking and distance learning last month continued to buoy orders for ICT products, while orders for electronics rose at a similar pace, increasing 16.2 percent to US$11.29 billion, the data showed.
“Demand for foundry services, ICs and passive components increased thanks to the accelerating deployment of 5G technologies and high-performance computing,” Huang said, adding that China and Hong Kong were the main contributors, placing up to 39.5 percent of total electronics orders.
Export orders for optoelectronics increased 5.3 percent to US$1.85 billion thanks to healthy demand for backlight modules, ending 17 consecutive months of annual declines, the data showed.
However, growth was curtailed by low display panel prices and sluggish orders for camera lenses, as a global economic slowdown worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic dampened demand for smartphones, Huang said.
Export orders for traditional goods last month also plummeted, with orders for chemical products; rubber and plastic products; base metal products; and machinery equipment recording double-digit percentage declines from a year earlier, the data showed.
“Last month was really one of the worst months for traditional industries... First the [COVID-19] pandemic, which dimmed market sentiment, then a plunge in crude oil prices,” Huang said.
“Perhaps we will see some recovery in orders for chemical, rubber and plastics products if oil prices continue to rally in the coming months,” Huang said, adding that orders for base metal products and machinery equipment might also rebound due to rising Chinese investments in infrastructure.
Based on the ministry’s latest survey of local firms, export orders this month are expected to either decline 1.9 percent year-on-year or increase 2 percent to between US$38 billion and US$39.5 billion.
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
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which supplies advanced chips to Nvidia Corp and Apple Inc, yesterday reported NT$1.046 trillion (US$33.1 billion) in revenue for last quarter, driven by constantly strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips, falling in the upper end of its forecast. Based on TSMC’s financial guidance, revenue would expand about 22 percent sequentially to the range from US$32.2 billion to US$33.4 billion during the final quarter of 2024, it told investors in October last year. Last year in total, revenue jumped 31.61 percent to NT$3.81 trillion, compared with NT$2.89 trillion generated in the year before, according to
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,
RSS