Exports last month soared 27.1 percent year-on-year to a record US$35.89 billion, as inventory demand for all product categories gained unprecedented traction amid component shortages and shipping delays, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
The growth momentum might extend into this quarter, buoyed by expectations of a global economic recovery, although the COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose uncertainty, the ministry said.
“Component shortages and shipping delays have prompted companies to build up and vie for tech and non-tech products, and push up their selling prices,” Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a news conference in Taipei.
Photo: CNA
The phenomenon is supported by economic improvement around the world following vaccine rollouts, Tsai said, adding that exports this month might also increase by a double-digit percentage point to more than US$30 billion.
Shipments of electronics surged 24.5 percent to US$13.45 billion, led by a 24.5 percent increase in semiconductors, a 45.2 percent jump in capacitors and a 35 percent gain in LEDs, the ministry said in its monthly report.
Local suppliers of chips and passive components have indicated plans to increase selling prices, as demand shows no signs of abating, it said.
Exports of information and communications devices rose 38.9 percent to a record US$92 billion, thanks to avid demand for personal computers, accessories and related products, such as routers, switches and data storage devices, it said.
Tsai dismissed concern over double-booking, saying that order visibility is clear through next year for manufacturers of notebook computers, chips and machinery equipment.
The boom extended to non-tech sectors, as exports of plastic products and electrical machinery swelled 39 percent and 29.3 percent respectively to US$2.59 billion and US$2.46 billion, both the highest in history, Tsai said, adding that shipments of textile and mineral products swung into positive territory.
Imports, a gauge of capacity expansion plans among local firms, spiked 38.4 percent to a record US$32.23 billion, attributable to a 28.2 percent increase in purchases of industrial and agricultural materials, as well as a 36.7 percent rise in capital equipment acquisition, the ministry said.
Imports of semiconductor equipment rose 48.1 percent to US$2.86 billion, it said.
The latest data gave Taiwan a trade surplus of US$3.66 billion, a 28.1 percent increase from a year earlier.
For the first quarter, exports advanced 24.6 percent to US$97.94 billion, while imports grew 21.1 percent to US$14.55 billion, the ministry said.
The data outpaced the 16.77 percent and 10.49 percent increases the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics predicted in February, suggesting room for upward revisions in the nation’s export-focused economy.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure