Taiwan’s machinery exports last month fell 18.7 percent year-on-year, the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry said in a report yesterday, in line with the nation’s overall exports, which declined 17.1 percent annually in the month.
Machinery exports totaled US$2.13 billion last month, down from US$2.62 billion a year earlier, data compiled by the association showed.
On a monthly basis, machinery exports declined 6 percent from US$2.26 billion, the data showed.
Photo: CNA
In New Taiwan dollar terms, machinery exports decreased 11.8 percent from a year earlier to NT$64.22 billion (US$2.09 billion), the association said.
Last month’s figures indicated that Taiwanese machinery suppliers were victims of the continued slowdown in the global economy, as were other segments of the economy, the association said.
Trade data released by the Ministry of Finance on Tuesday showed that exports of base metals, chemicals, and plastics and rubber fell 24.1 percent, 14.3 percent and 25.3 percent respectively from a year earlier, while electronic components, semiconductors, and information and communication technology products dropped 17.8 percent, 17.3 percent and 9 percent respectively on an annual basis.
Orders received by local machinery makers started to shrink in the second half of last year when global demand slowed, the association said.
As it usually takes more than three months for makers to ship goods abroad after receiving orders, machinery exports this quarter would decrease significantly, the association said.
In the machinery segment, overseas shipments of inspection and testing equipment increased slightly last month compared with the same period last year, while exports in other sectors — such as electronics production equipment and machine tools — declined, the association said.
Exports of machine tools last month fell 29.2 percent from a month earlier and 26.9 percent from a year earlier, which the association attributed to firms in the supply chain depleting their inventories.
Several machine tool makers at the Taipei International Machine Tool Show, which opened on Monday and runs through Saturday, said the industry would likely regain its footing in the second quarter and expect the business climate to improve in the second half of the year compared with the first half.
In the first two months of the year, machinery exports totaled US$4.39 billion, down 22 percent year-on-year, while in NT dollar terms, exports decreased 14.5 percent to NT$133.44 billion, the association said.
Over the same period, machine tool exports dropped 10.4 percent to US$405 million, it said.
The US was the largest buyer of Taiwanese machinery products in the first two months, with purchases totaling US$1.12 billion, which accounted for 25.4 percent of all machinery exports, the association said.
China ranked second, with purchases totaling US$944 million for a 21.5 percent share of Taiwan’s machinery exports, followed by Japan, which accounted for 8.1 percent of the nation’s machinery exports with purchases totaling US$353 million, the association said.
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