Export orders last month increased 13.4 percent year-on-year and 10.8 percent month-on-month to a record US$65.5 billion, thanks to easing constraints on component supplies and persistently robust demand for electronics, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
The number beat the ministry’s earlier forecast of US$59 billion to US$60.5 billion.
“Last month’s export orders were better than we expected,” Department of Statistics Director Huang Yu-ling (黃于玲) told a media briefing. “The supply of raw materials and key components was better in November than in October for some manufacturers, leading to a rise in orders.”
Photo: CNA
A global economy recovering from the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic amid rising vaccination rates benefits Taiwan’s semiconductor and electronics companies, Huang said.
Orders of information and communications technology (ICT) and electronics products exceeded the ministry’s expectations, underpinned by solid demand for mobile phones, notebook computers, 5G-related applications and automotive components amid accelerating digitalization worldwide, she said.
Last month, orders for ICT products edged up 1.7 percent annually to US$21.29 billion, driven by robust demand for laptops and servers, ministry data showed.
Orders for electronics rose 17.9 percent to US$20.27 billion thanks to increased demand for chips used in 5G and high-performance computing devices, as well as other emerging technologies.
Orders for optoelectronics products rose 12.3 percent to US$2.67 billion, as robust demand for LCD panels used in commercial, industrial and medical devices offset sluggish demand for large-panel TVs.
Orders for base metals, such as steel, soared 32.6 percent to US$3.22 billion, supported by increases in infrastructure construction projects, while orders for machine tools increased 17.8 percent to US$2.19 billion as manufacturers moved toward industrial automation.
Orders for plastic products increased 22.6 percent to US$2.62 billion, while petrochemical products rose 14.1 percent to US$2.16 billion on rising global crude oil prices, ministry data showed.
The ministry expects export orders this month to lose some momentum, with orders for ICT products being the weakest, a ministry survey of local manufacturers found.
Orders this month might slide by 5.3 to 7.3 percent month-on-month to between US$60.5 billion and US$62 billion, Huang said.
This means an annual decrease of 0.1 to 2.4 percent, she said.
According to this forecast, cumulative export orders for the whole year would surge more than 25 percent to at least US$666.7 billion, a record.
Variants of SARS-CoV-2 and lingering supply-chain bottlenecks are likely to continue to lower the number of orders received by local manufacturers, Huang said.
Give the high comparison base this year, it remains to be seen whether the growth momentum is to carry into next year, she added.
Orders from the US, the biggest export destination for local manufacturers, last month rose 10.8 percent annually to US$20.08 billion, and accounted for 30.7 percent of the total orders.
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