Taiwan’s exports recorded their highest increase in more than a year, but still fell short of market expectations, tempering enthusiasm for a quick rebound in global demand for the trade-dependent economy.
Overseas shipments expanded 3.8 percent to US$37.47 billion last month from a year ago, a statement from the Ministry of Finance released yesterday said.
While last month's increase followed an annual decline of 4.5 percent in October and was the fastest pace of growth since July last year, it still fell short of the median expectation of a 4.6 percent increase in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
Photo: CNA
Month-on-month, exports contracted 1.7 percent, the ministry said.
Imports sank 14.8 percent to US$27.67 billion last month, far more than economists’ expectations of a 2 percent decline, with the main headwind being a steep drop in purchases of semiconductor manufacturing equipment from abroad. The resulting trade balance stood at US$9.8 billion, the second-highest amount on record and up 170.8 percent from a year earlier.
Improvements in tech exports were held back by “drag from non-tech exports, especially around chemicals, plastics and mineral products exports,” Barclays PLC economist Bum Ki Son said. “Softness in capital goods and consumer goods imports suggest domestic demand momentum is softening in the fourth quarter.”
Investors and analysts have been looking for signs that sluggish demand across Asia is reversing. China’s exports rose 0.5 percent last month from a year ago, although that was skewed by it having been compared with a year earlier, when it was still grappling with COVID-19 pandemic-related restrictions.
There have been other positive signs in the region: South Korea, another bellwether for global trade, saw its recovery in exports accelerate last month on the back of a rebound in semiconductor demand. Taiwan has been hoping for a pickup in chip exports as well, given the importance the sector holds for the economy.
Last month, China and Hong Kong remained the top buyers after purchasing US$12.71 billion worth of Taiwan-made goods, accounting for 33.9 percent of the total, compared with 37.2 percent in October, the ministry said.
Exports to China and Hong Kong fell 6.3 percent from a year earlier after a 3.6 percent year-on-year decline in October, ministry data showed.
The US bought US$7.82 billion worth of Taiwan's merchandise, up 33.1 percent from a year earlier on the back of strong demand for tech devices, the ministry said. It was the second consecutive month Taiwan's exports to the US market have hit a new high, it added.
Exports to the ASEAN and Europe also received a boost from strong demand for Taiwan's tech gadgets, with sales to ASEAN and Europe reaching US$6.87 billion and US$3.04 billion respectively, up 13.8 percent and 1.7 percent from a year earlier, ministry data showed.
The data also indicated exports to Japan fell 11.4 percent from a year earlier to US$2.62 billion last month.
In the first 11 months of this year, Taiwan's exports fell 11.5 percent from a year earlier to US$392.56 billion and imports dropped 18.7 percent to US $323.10 billion, while the trade surplus rose 49.6 percent from a year earlier to US$69.46 billion, the ministry said.
Looking forward, Taiwan's exports are to expand at an annual pace of 4 to 7 percent this month, which would result in US$37.2 billion to US$38.2 billion in exports, the Ministry of Finance forecast. That would bring the entire year’s exports to US$430 billion, the third-highest in the nation’s history, the ministry said.
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