Taiwan’s export orders totaled a record US$57.78 billion last month, up 12 percent month-on-month and 29.7 percent year-on-year, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
The better-than-expected results were boosted by “a certain recently released smartphone product by an international company,” Department of Statistics Director Huang Yu-ling (黃于玲) told a news conference in Taipei.
Apple Inc, which used to release its new iPhone models in September, delayed this year’s launch to Oct. 23 due to production disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo: Bloomberg
“We can’t give exact figures, but it’s quite clear that the smartphone launch in question has had a very substantial effect,” Huang said. “It partially explains why 59.2 percent of the goods supplied by Taiwanese exporters were manufactured abroad,” up 3.3 percentage points year-on-year.
The trend of local manufacturers moving their production back home is “here to stay,” but iPhones are mostly made by Taiwanese contract manufacturers in China, she said.
Export orders for information and communication technology (ICT) products hit a record high of US$20.82 billion, up 39.4 percent year-on-year, on the back of seasonal demand for laptops and tablets, as well as the iPhone launch, Huang said.
Orders for electronic products also set a record of US$17.19 billion, up 37.8 percent year-on-year, while optical product orders were US$2.37 billion, up 27.8 percent year-on-year, ministry data showed.
Non-tech industries also posted growth in orders last month, with plastic product orders increasing 20 percent year-on-year to US$2.14 billion, basic metal orders advancing 25.2 percent to US$2.43 billion and mechanical products climbing 11.5 percent to US$1.86 billion.
Only orders for chemical products dipped on depressed international oil prices, falling 4.4 percent to US$1.53 billion, the data showed.
The US accounted for US$18.13 billion of all export orders, up 30.6 percent annually, while US$12.83 billion of orders came from China and Hong Kong, up 23.3 percent, and US$14.39 billion of orders came from Europe, up 50.2 percent.
In the first 11 months of this year, total export orders increased 7.3 percent year-on-year to US$473.11 billion, the ministry said.
Export orders are forecast to total US$56.5 billion to NT$58 billion next month, which would translate into a 2.2 percent monthly decline and a 29 percent annual increase on the low end of the estimate, and a 0.4 percent monthly increase and a 32.5 percent annual increase on the high end, the ministry said.
This means for the whole year estimated export orders would be US$529.7 billion to US$531.1 billion, or annual growth of 9.3 to 9.6 percent, the ministry said.
“While this rate of growth in export orders is not exactly historic, it is remarkable that we are able to accomplish this in a pandemic year,” Huang said.
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
Gasoline and diesel prices at fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.1 per liter, as tensions in the Middle East pushed crude oil prices higher last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week rose for the third consecutive week due to an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, as the market is concerned that the situation in the Middle East might affect crude oil supply, CPC and Formosa said in separate statements. Front-month Brent crude oil futures — the international oil benchmark — rose 3.75 percent to settle at US$77.01
RISING: Strong exports, and life insurance companies’ efforts to manage currency risks indicates the NT dollar would eventually pass the 29 level, an expert said The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rallied to its strongest in three years amid inflows to the nation’s stock market and broad-based weakness in the US dollar. Exporter sales of the US currency and a repatriation of funds from local asset managers also played a role, said two traders, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak publicly. State-owned banks were seen buying the greenback yesterday, but only at a moderate scale, the traders said. The local currency gained 0.77 percent, outperforming almost all of its Asian peers, to close at NT$29.165 per US dollar in Taipei trading yesterday. The
RECORD LOW: Global firms’ increased inventories, tariff disputes not yet impacting Taiwan and new graduates not yet entering the market contributed to the decrease Taiwan’s unemployment rate last month dropped to 3.3 percent, the lowest for the month in 25 years, as strong exports and resilient domestic demand boosted hiring across various sectors, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. After seasonal adjustments, the jobless rate eased to 3.34 percent, the best performance in 24 years, suggesting a stable labor market, although a mild increase is expected with the graduation season from this month through August, the statistics agency said. “Potential shocks from tariff disputes between the US and China have yet to affect Taiwan’s job market,” Census Department Deputy Director Tan Wen-ling