Exports last month expanded 24.6 percent to a record US$40.14 billion, as a continued global recovery shored up demand for electronics used in new technological applications and digital transformation, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
It is the first time outbound shipments exceeded US$40 billion and the 16th consecutive month of annual growth on the back of strong demand for chips for which Taiwanese firms command leadership on the world stage, the ministry said.
“Tight capacity and clear order visibility for chips, the main growth driver, lend further support to Taiwan’s exports,” Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) said at a media briefing in Taipei.
Photo: CNA
Capacity at major chip manufacturing facilities are to remain tight through next year, even after several rounds of hikes in average selling prices, Tsai said, expecting robust export performance for this month and beyond.
Electronics shipments grew 12.4 percent to US$14.58 billion, while exports of information and communications technology products soared 26.9 percent to US$5.88 billion last month, the ministry’s monthly report showed.
Tsai’s rosy view came even after saying that DRAM and flat-panel prices entered corrections, and local suppliers arranged annual maintenance to cope with the effects of a slow season this quarter.
Ongoing corrections could come to an end next quarter following inventory replenishments on the part of China’s Hisense Electric Co (海信), Japan’s Sony Corp, and South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co and LG Electronics Inc, Tsai said.
Non-technology products grew 12.5 percent faster due to heightened infrastructure spending in advanced economies pushing up raw material and base metal product prices, the ministry said.
Major vendors of petrochemical, plastic and metal products have provided upbeat guidance after displaying impressive sales improvement.
Meanwhile, imports spiked 37.2 percent to US$34.02 billion, the second-highest in history, as local companies purchased higher volumes of agricultural and industrial materials, as well as semiconductor equipment, to meet export needs, the ministry said.
Imports of agricultural and industrial materials surged 48.8 percent to US$23.67 billion, while semiconductor equipment imports rose 46.3 percent to US$3.14 billion, it said. That resulted in a trade surplus of US$6.12 billion, shrinking 17.5 percent from a year earlier.
In the first 10 months of the year, exports jumped 30 percent to US$364.2 billion, while imports advanced 33.7 percent to US$310.38 billion, the ministry said.
Tsai said fast vaccination rates worldwide allowed companies and consumers confidence to embark on purchasing activity.
Buying activity should gain further momentum as China’s Double 11 shopping event and Christmas in the West approach, Tsai said, adding that full-year exports this year are expected to break records.
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