Export orders last year contracted at a steeper rate of 15.9 percent annually to about US$561.04 billion after the data drifted into negative territory again last month, as a wobbling global economy weighed on consumer spending and a supply chain inventory correction cycle lingered, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
The dismal showing came as export orders last month sank 16 percent year-on-year to US$43.81 billion after a brief uptick in November last year, weaker than the ministry’s forecast of an annual decline of 8 percent at the worst.
Overall, local manufacturers saw orders slump for a second year in a row last year, although the orders they received still marked the third-highest amount on record, the ministry said.
Photo: CNA
Geographically, the three major export destinations of the US, Europe and China saw orders plummet at the deepest rates on record last year at 14.8 percent, 30 percent and 17.2 percent respectively, while ASEAN was the only area that grew, with an annual expansion of 14.7 percent, the ministry’s data showed.
With external uncertainty escalating, the ministry said the momentum in export orders would not pick up any time soon. Orders are forecast to dip between 15.8 percent and 20 percent annually this month to between US$38 billion and US$40 billion, dragged down by seasonal weakness and a higher comparison base a year earlier, the ministry said.
“The visibility is low, as we saw many uncertain and unfavorable factors affecting demand for consumer electronics and slowing global economic recovery,” the ministry’s Department of Statistics Director Huang Yu-ling (黃于玲) said via telephone. “Businesses are cautious about placing new orders as a result.”
In addition to high inflation, high interest rates, geopolitical tensions and inventory adjustments, attacks on cargo ships in the Red Sea deserve further observation, as the crisis has led to rising shipping costs and longer transportation times, stoking fears of supply chain disruptions and inflation spikes, Huang said.
Export orders this year would be better than last year, given the strong demand for emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing, she said, adding that Taiwanese manufacturers are also expected to benefit from growth in global trade this year, based on the World Bank’s forecast.
Last month, orders for information and communications technology (ICT) products fell 25.3 percent annually to US$12.27 billion. Last year as a whole, ICT orders contracted 12.6 percent annually to US$166.02 billion.
Electronic component orders shrank 12.9 percent to US$14.92 billion last month due to lower demand for memory chips, foundry products and printed circuit boards. Last year, electronics orders dipped 15.1 percent to US$188.9 billion from 2022.
Orders for optoelectronics products declined 0.3 percent to US$1.61 billion last month and dropped 14.2 percent to US$19.14 billion throughout the year.
Reported orders for base metals, including steel, dropped 1.7 percent to US$2.15 billion last month, and were down 20.9 percent to US$25.1 billion last year, while machinery orders plummeted 10.5 percent to US$1.64 billion last month and dropped 20 percent to US$19.21 billion for the whole year.
Orders for plastic products sank 15.2 percent to US$1.5 billion last month, while those for petrochemical products fell 6.5 percent to US$1.47 billion. Last year, orders for plastic and petrochemical products plunged 25.9 percent and 25.5 percent to US$18.75 billion and US$17.41 billion respectively.
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