Export orders last month expanded at a faster-than-expected 7 percent driven by strong demand for chips used in artificial intelligence (AI) applications and high-performance computing (HPC) devices, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
Export orders last month expanded to US$48.89 billion, beating the ministry’s estimate of increasing by 6.2 percent year-on-year to US$48.5 billion.
The ministry expects the growth momentum to extend into this month, rising by an annual rate of between 10.9 percent and 15.4 percent to between US$49 billion and US$51 billion.
Photo: CNA
That would bring orders this quarter to between US$145 billion and US$147 billion, indicating a yearly expansion of between 9.5 percent and 11.1 percent, the ministry projected.
“Export orders in the second quarter are to ride out of a seven-quarter decline as prolonged inventory corrections are coming to an end for most industries,” Department of Statistics Director Huang Yu-ling (黃于玲) said via telephone. “We expect export orders to grow every quarter in the second half of this year amid normal seasonality.”
In the first five months of the year, export orders rose 2.2 percent to US$229.3 billion, ministry data showed.
It remains to be seen if the growth of export orders swings back to positive territory for the whole year, as major central banks hesitate to cut interest rates and the geopolitical situation remains precarious, Huang said.
Last year, export orders dipped for a second straight year, falling by 15.9 percent year-on-year amid supply chain inventory adjustments and sagging end-market demand, ministry data showed.
Orders for electronic products rose 9.2 percent year-on-year to US$16.89 billion last month, primarily fueled by demand for foundry services and chip distributors for AI applications and HPC devices, the ministry said.
Orders for information and communication technology (ICT) products last month rose 11.4 percent to US$14.06 billion, aided by demand for AI applications, cloud devices and servers. That marked the best May performance for ICT goods, it said.
Orders from Southeast Asian countries showed the strongest growth in ICT products as the region has become the new server manufacturing hub for local manufacturers including Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海) and Wiwynn Corp (緯穎).
Orders of optoelectronics products expanded 7 percent to US$1.77 billion last month, thanks to price increases for large TV panels and better orders of optoelectronic cameras, it said.
Orders for base metals dropped 1.5 percent to US$2.21 billion last month as steel demand slowed, and those for machinery products shrank 0.5 percent to US$1.66 billion as businesses were still conservative about investing in new manufacturing equipment, the ministry said.
However, orders for plastic products increased 8.5 percent to US$1.72 billion due to restocking demand and higher selling prices, it said.
Petrochemical products orders also surged 17.1 percent to US$1.69 billion, thanks to price increases amid higher global crude oil prices, the ministry said.
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