Exports last month surged 38.7 percent year-on-year to US$34.96 billion, the second-highest value in history, as local firms benefited from an across-the-board increase in demand, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
A pickup in economic activity around the world also lent support to inventory building for tech and non-tech products, pushing up their selling prices, during a historically slow season, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a news conference in Taipei.
“Exports could stay above the US$30 billion mark for this month, or an increase of 25 to 31 percent from a year earlier,” Tsai said, adding that material, component and capacity shortages could persist until next year, based on the guidance of major tech firms.
Photo: CNA
Taiwan is home to the world’s leading contract makers of electronics used in smartphones, personal computers, TVs, vehicles, as well as artificial intelligence and Internet of Things applications. The second quarter is usually a low season for technology brands to digest inventory before the launch of next-generation products in the fall.
Shipments of electronics spiked 38.6 percent to US$13.51 billion, propelled by a 34.9 percent increase in semiconductors, a 44.1 percent bump in LEDs, a 35.2 percent pickup in capacitors and a 10.6 percent growth in printed circuit boards, the ministry’s report showed.
Exports of information and communications technology devices expanded 35.9 percent to US$4.71 billion on the back of demand for personal computers and accessories, data storage devices, routers, switches and related products, it said.
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation of companies and organizations, while 5G wireless communication and other new technologies are gaining momentum, Tsai said.
The boom extended to non-tech sectors, with chemicals, minerals, textiles, base metals and plastics reporting sweeping comebacks, with growth ranging from 27 percent to 128.8 percent, the ministry said.
Shipments of transportation tools grew 68.5 percent, while electrical products soared 33.1 percent, it added.
Warming global economic activities and a low base last year accounted for the impressive showings, it said.
Meanwhile, imports jumped 26.4 percent to US$28.79 billion, the ministry said.
Imports of capital equipment rose 39.2 percent from a year earlier, while industrial and agricultural raw materials saw an advance of 27.7 percent, it said.
The latest trade figures gave Taiwan a trade surplus of US$6.18 billion, more than doubling the year-ago level, it said.
For the first four months of the year, exports increased 28 percent to US$132.91 billion, while imports expanded 22.4 percent to US$112.36 billion, it said.
ELECTRONICS BOOST: A predicted surge in exports would likely be driven by ICT products, exports of which have soared 84.7 percent from a year earlier, DBS said DBS Bank Ltd (星展銀行) yesterday raised its GDP growth forecast for Taiwan this year to 4 percent from 3 percent, citing robust demand for artificial intelligence (AI)-related exports and accelerated shipment activity, which are expected to offset potential headwinds from US tariffs. “Our GDP growth forecast for 2025 is revised up to 4 percent from 3 percent to reflect front-loaded exports and strong AI demand,” Singapore-based DBS senior economist Ma Tieying (馬鐵英) said in an online briefing. Taiwan’s second-quarter performance beat expectations, with GDP growth likely surpassing 5 percent, driven by a 34.1 percent year-on-year increase in exports, Ma said, citing government
UNIFYING OPPOSITION: Numerous companies have registered complaints over the potential levies, bringing together rival automakers in voicing their reservations US President Donald Trump is readying plans for industry-specific tariffs to kick in alongside his country-by-country duties in two weeks, ramping up his push to reshape the US’ standing in the global trading system by penalizing purchases from abroad. Administration officials could release details of Trump’s planned 50 percent duty on copper in the days before they are set to take effect on Friday next week, a person familiar with the matter said. That is the same date Trump’s “reciprocal” levies on products from more than 100 nations are slated to begin. Trump on Tuesday said that he is likely to impose tariffs
HELPING HAND: Approving the sale of H20s could give China the edge it needs to capture market share and become the global standard, a US representative said The US President Donald Trump administration’s decision allowing Nvidia Corp to resume shipments of its H20 artificial intelligence (AI) chips to China risks bolstering Beijing’s military capabilities and expanding its capacity to compete with the US, the head of the US House Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party said. “The H20, which is a cost-effective and powerful AI inference chip, far surpasses China’s indigenous capability and would therefore provide a substantial increase to China’s AI development,” committee chairman John Moolenaar, a Michigan Republican, said on Friday in a letter to US Secretary of
‘REMARKABLE SHOWING’: The economy likely grew 5 percent in the first half of the year, although it would likely taper off significantly, TIER economist Gordon Sun said The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) yesterday raised Taiwan’s GDP growth forecast for this year to 3.02 percent, citing robust export-driven expansion in the first half that is likely to give way to a notable slowdown later in the year as the front-loading of global shipments fades. The revised projection marks an upward adjustment of 0.11 percentage points from April’s estimate, driven by a surge in exports and corporate inventory buildup ahead of possible US tariff hikes, TIER economist Gordon Sun (孫明德) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy likely grew more than 5 percent in the first six months
RSS