Taiwan’s exports last month increased 23.5 percent from a year earlier to US$39.9 billion, the fastest in 28 months as most product categories posted gains, led by electronics used in artificial intelligence (AI) applications, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
The advance was much faster than a range of 7 to 10 percent the ministry predicted last month thanks to an AI boom and demand ahead of expected launches of next-generation smartphones, laptops and other tech gadgets, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) said.
“As the high season [for technology products] approaches, export volume this month would gain further traction at an annual rate of 3 to 6 percent, even as the low-base effect tapers,” Tsai told an online media briefing.
Photo: CNA
Shipments of information and communications technology products last month more than doubled to US$10.78 billion, while electronic components, mainly semiconductors, rose 7.3 percent to US$14.58 billion, she said, adding that the two product categories combined accounted for about 90 percent of overall exports.
Technology titans in the US have built up AI capacities, efforts that have made the US the second-largest destination for Taiwanese exports after China, she said.
Taiwan is home to major suppliers of AI chips, servers, and storage and memory devices.
AI servers reportedly cost 10 times more than traditional servers, Tsai said, adding that it is difficult to gauge their exact contributions.
That explained why local electronics suppliers Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦) and Wistron Corp (緯創) had strong sales last month and their share prices soared.
Exports to almost all trade partners trended upward, except Japan, which declined 2.3 percent, ministry data showed.
Meanwhile, shipments of non-technology products improved, with increases ranging from 2.5 percent for base metal products to 23.8 percent for mineral products, the ministry said.
Tsai attributed the improvement to rising international oil prices and the end of inventory adjustments.
Textile products have benefitted from the upcoming Paris Olympics, she added.
Imports grew 33.9 percent from a year earlier to US$35.22 billion, giving Taiwan a trade surplus of US$4.68 billion, a 22.2 percent retreat year-on-year, the ministry said.
Better sales and business visibility made local firms more willing to buy materials that would be used to manufacture products for export and capital equipment to expand capacity, Tsai said.
In the April-to-June period, exports advanced 9.9 percent to US$114.73 billion, missing a forecast in May by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics by 4.6 percentage points, she said.
Imports grew 12.7 percent to US$97.55 billion, beating the projected 11.54 percent increase, she said.
The results indicate that the statistics agency might have been optimistic in its projections for exports and GDP growth this year, , the ministry said.
In the first half, exports rose 11.4 percent to US$225.03 billion, while imports picked up 7.8 percent to US$188.91 billion, it added.
The domestic unit of the Chinese-owned, Dutch-headquartered chipmaker Nexperia BV will soon be able to produce semiconductors locally within China, according to two company sources. Nexperia is at the center of a global tug-of-war over critical semiconductor technology, with a Dutch court in February ordering a probe into alleged mismanagement at the company. The geopolitical tussle has disrupted supply chains, with some carmakers reportedly forced to cut production due to chip shortages. Local production would allow Nexperia’s domestic arm, Nexperia Semiconductors (China) Ltd (安世半導體中國), to bypass restrictions in place since October on the supply of silicon wafers — etched with tiny components to
Taiwan’s foreign exchange reserves fell below the US$600 billion mark at the end of last month, with the central bank reporting a total of US$596.89 billion — a decline of US$8.6 billion from February — ending a three-month streak of increases. The central bank attributed the drop to a combination of factors such as outflows by foreign institutional investors, currency fluctuations and its own market interventions. “The large-scale outflows disrupted the balance of supply and demand in the foreign exchange market, prompting the central bank to intervene repeatedly by selling US dollars to stabilize the local currency,” Department of Foreign
Taiwan is open to joining a global liquefied natural gas (LNG) program if one is created, but on the condition that countries provide delivery even in a scenario where there is a conflict with China, an energy department official said yesterday. While Taiwan’s priority is to have enough LNG at home, the nation is open to exploring potential strategic reserves in other countries such as Japan or South Korea, Energy Administration Deputy Director-General Chen Chung-hsien (陳崇憲) said. While the LNG market does not have a global reserve for emergencies like that of oil, the concept has been raised a few times —
AI-FUELED DEMAND: The company has been benefiting from the skyrocketing prices for DRAM chips amid the AI frenzy, especially its core product — DDR4 DRAM chips DRAM chipmaker Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) yesterday reported that its revenue for the first quarter surged 582.91 percent to NT$49.09 billion (US$1.54 billion) from NT$7.19 billion a year earlier, as the supply crunch caused chip price spikes. Last quarter’s figure is the highest on record. On a quarterly basis, revenue jumped 63.14 percent from NT$30.09 billion, the company said. In January, Nanya Technology expected global DRAM supply scarcity to continue through the first half of 2028, thanks to strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications. Market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) forecast prices of standard DRAM chips would rise between 58 percent and 63
RSS