Exports last month rose 9.4 percent year-on-year to US$30.7 billion, as demand for electronics increased ahead of the holiday season and China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為) continued stockpiling supply before a US sales ban was implemented on Sept. 15, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
Buildup of holiday inventory would increase further this month as Apple Inc is slated to unveil new iPhones next week, but sales to Huawei would no longer boost exports as the Chinese firm cannot use products containing US technology, the ministry said.
“That could drive exports back into contraction with a 2 percent decline this month,” Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a news conference in Taipei, adding that there are fewer working days this month, which would also be unfavorable.
Exports of electronic components soared 26.1 percent from a year earlier to US$13.7 billion, the second-highest volume in history, driven mainly by demand for chips used in 5G deployment and high-performance computing applications, Tsai said.
The mega trend is expected to help Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) emerge scathed from the Huawei ban as other customers line up for its advanced chips.
TSMC supplies chips to Apple, Qualcomm Inc, Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc and MediaTek Inc (聯發科). Intel Corp could soon also become a client, bringing in massive orders.
Demand for information and communications devices increased 22.5 percent year-on-year, upheld by the remote working and learning trends, the ministry said.
Together, the two product categories accounted for more than 50 percent of overall exports and could help the critical economic gauge grow mildly this year, Tsai said.
Outbound shipments last quarter rose 6 percent annually to a record US$90.08 billion, beating the government’s forecast of a 1.1 percent decline, Tsai said.
From January to last month, exports have already posted a 2.4 percent annual increase, Tsai said.
Last month, some non-tech products also came out of the woods, the ministry said, adding that exports of plastic products increased 0.9 percent year-on year, reversing two years of declines, aided by reconstruction demand following serious floods in China.
Slumps in exports of metal and chemical products have tapered off somewhat, but widened to 60.7 percent for mineral products, as the COVID-19 pandemic has affected each sector differently, the ministry said.
China and the US continued to be active buyers of Taiwanese goods, but shipments to ASEAN, Japan and Europe stalled, it said.
Imports shrank 5.4 percent year-on-year to US$23.58 billion last month, giving Taiwan a record trade surplus of US$7.14 billion — more than twice the level reported a year earlier, the ministry said.
Imports of capital equipment dropped 8.3 percent, but increased 6.6 percent last quarter and 5.2 percent for the year-to-date, it said.
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