The nation’s exports of electric bicycles surpassed those of traditional bikes in the first five months of this year, with the export value of the former hitting a new high for the period, the Ministry of Finance has said.
Electric bike exports totaled US$550 million in the January-to-May period, up 44.2 percent from a year earlier, compared with US$530 million generated by traditional bicycle producers, up 38 percent annually, data compiled by the ministry showed.
Rising tensions between the US and China prompted foreign buyers of electric bikes to shift their orders to Taiwan, while growing awareness of environmental issues also boosted shipments, the ministry said.
Photo: CNA
Electric bicycles emerged as a new growth driver in the nation’s vehicle and component exports in the first five months, when the export value hit US$5.32 billion, up 41.2 percent from a year earlier, it said.
The slower growth in traditional bikes reflected a fall in international demand as the global economy was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and there was an increase in bike-sharing worldwide, the ministry added.
The US was the largest buyer of Taiwanese electric bicycles, accounting for 39.3 percent of total outbound sales in the first five months, while Europe was the top foreign buyer of traditional bikes, making up 67 percent of the total.
Data on vehicle and part exports from Taiwan cover passenger vehicles and components as well as bicycles and bicycle parts, according to the ministry.
In the five-month period, bike component exports totaled US$1.74 billion, up 65.2 percent from a year earlier, with Europe the largest buyer, accounting for 53.6 percent of total sales, ahead of the US (14 percent) and ASEAN (12 percent), the ministry said.
Bicycle components accounted for a greater share of vehicle and component sales during the period, making up 32.8 percent of total sales, compared with 30.7 percent last year, it said.
Passenger car exports totaled US$400 million in the first five months, up 47.7 percent from a year earlier, the ministry said, citing the effects of reopening economies around the world.
The Middle East was the largest buyer of passenger cars, with purchases accounting for 43.3 percent of the total in the five-month period, but the growth moderated from more than 80 percent in the past few years, a reflection of the region’s weaker economy, the ministry said.
The US was the second-largest buyer of Taiwan’s passenger cars during the period, making up 17.2 percent on the back of strong demand for all-terrain vehicles, ahead of Europe (14.8 percent), and China and Hong Kong (14.4 percent), it said.
Taiwan’s foreign exchange reserves fell below the US$600 billion mark at the end of last month, with the central bank reporting a total of US$596.89 billion — a decline of US$8.6 billion from February — ending a three-month streak of increases. The central bank attributed the drop to a combination of factors such as outflows by foreign institutional investors, currency fluctuations and its own market interventions. “The large-scale outflows disrupted the balance of supply and demand in the foreign exchange market, prompting the central bank to intervene repeatedly by selling US dollars to stabilize the local currency,” Department of Foreign
Intel Corp is joining Elon Musk’s long-shot effort to develop semiconductors for Tesla Inc, Space Exploration Technologies Corp and xAI, marking a surprising twist in the chipmaker’s comeback bid. Intel would help the Terafab project “refactor” the technology in a chip factory, the company said on Tuesday in a post on X, Musk’s social media platform. That is a stage in the development process that typically helps make chips more powerful or reliable. The chipmaker’s shares jumped 4.2 percent to US$52.91 in New York trading on Tuesday. The Terafab project is a grand plan by Musk to eventually manufacture his own chips for
Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) yesterday said it plans to resume operations at two coal-fired power generators for three months to boost security of electricity supply as liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply risks are running high due to the Middle East conflict. The two coal-fired power generators are at Mailiao Power Plant in Yunlin County’s Mailiao Township (麥寮). The plant, operated by Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團), supplied electricity to Taipower’s power grid until the end of last year. Taipower’s decision came about one month after Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) on March 10 said that the nation had no imminent
Some robotaxi passengers were left stranded in the middle of fast-moving traffic in a major Chinese city after their driverless vehicles stopped running, according to police and media reports on Wednesday. A preliminary investigation indicates more than 100 robotaxis came to a halt because of a “system malfunction,” police in the city of Wuhan said in a statement, without elaborating. No injuries were reported. One passenger told Chinese media that their robotaxi stopped after turning a corner. An instruction on a screen read: “Driving system malfunction. Staff are expected to arrive in 5 minutes.” After no one showed up, the passenger pushed
RSS