Taiwan’s exports of bicycles and bicycle parts last year increased 23.11 percent annually to US$6.15 billion from US$4.99 billion the previous year, with an average annual increase of 8.2 percent over the past 10 years, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday, citing the latest customs statistics.
Bicycle parts accounted for 48 percent of the industry’s total exports, rising 26.65 percent year-on-year to US$2.95 billion, with outbound shipments of bicycle parts growing 12.7 percent annually on average in the past 10 years, the data showed.
Exports of traditional bicycles totaled US$1.63 billion last year, up 22.4 percent from 2021, but their share of the industry’s total exports fell to 26.6 percent from 26.7 percent in 2021 and from 67.5 percent in 2012 amid growing uptake of bicycle-sharing systems, the ministry said.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
Exports of electric bicycles last year rose 17.7 percent annually to US$1.56 billion. The value of outbound shipments grew 57.5 percent since 2012, due mainly to a rapid growth in European and US markets, as well as the products having higher selling prices, the ministry said.
Electric bicycles accounted for 25.4 percent of the industry’s overall exports last year, compared with 26.6 percent in 2021.
The US, the Netherlands, Germany, the UK and China were the top five destinations for Taiwanese bicycles and bicycle parts last year, accounting for 63.6 percent of the industry’s total exports.
The US continued to be the largest export market last year for traditional bicycle manufacturers, and the Netherlands remained the largest market for electric bicycles, while most of bicycle-related shipments to Germany were bicycle parts.
The ministry said Taiwan’s electric bicycles have increased their market share in the US, the EU and China, thanks to more Taiwanese firms moving production of high-end models back home amid US-China trade tensions.
However, Taiwan faces rising competition from Cambodia, as the Southeast Asian country has benefited from better tariff terms for bicycle exports to Europe and the US, which have led several European and US brands to set up production bases there, the ministry said.
The EU’s imports of bicycles from Cambodia exceeded those from Taiwan for the first time in 2021, it added.
Netherlands-based semiconductor equipment supplier ASML Holding NV yesterday said that it is planning to hire an additional 1,000 people in Taiwan this year in response to growing demand from clients. ASML had previously planned to recruit 600 people this year, but that the plan has been adjusted upward, ASML vice president and ASML Taiwan general manager Grace Wang (汪佳慧) told reporters. ASML has a workforce of more than 4,500 in Taiwan, accounting for about 10 percent of its global total, Wang said. This year’s recruitment campaign would focus on adding people in the customer support, manufacturing and supply chain domains to assist ASML
UNDER MICROSCOPE: Taiwan detained three people who allegedly conspired to buy servers in Taiwan and export them using fraudulent documentation, prosecutors said Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday urged Super Micro Computer Inc to tighten up on compliance after Taiwan detained three people this week for allegedly making fraudulent declarations about artificial intelligence (AI) servers made by its US partner. The development marked the nation’s first crackdown on semiconductor smuggling, which grew after the US slapped restrictions on exports of high-end chips such as Nvidia AI accelerators to China. Nvidia is “rigorous” in explaining regulations to all of its partners, Huang told reporters after arriving in Taipei. “Ultimately Super Micro has to run their own company,” he said in response to
Nvidia Corp yesterday announced that CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) would attend an employee meeting in Taipei tomorrow to celebrate the launch of the company’s Taiwan headquarters project. Huang would attend a gathering at the site of Nvidia’s planned headquarters in Beitou Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區), the company said in a statement. After arriving in Taiwan on Saturday last week, Huang told reporters that he plans to meet with Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), and would attend the groundbreaking ceremony for Nvidia’s Taiwan headquarters tomorrow. Nvidia has not yet applied
Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) today unveiled a long-haul network expansion plan at a shareholders’ meeting in Taipei, including direct flights to Barcelona, Spain, and Zurich, Switzerland, as well as a service connecting Taipei, Sydney and New Zealand. Starlux is to become the first Taiwanese carrier to offer non-stop services to the two European cities, while the inaugural oceanic route is expected to expand transit opportunities within the Australia-New Zealand market, Starlux said. Flight services to Chicago, Dallas, Washington and New York are under evaluation, the airline added. Prior to the shareholders’ meeting, the airline earlier this year announced that it would be
RSS