Export orders last month surged 31 percent year-on-year to US$49.45 billion, driven by strong demand for servers and chips used in artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing applications, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
New smartphone launches, China’s subsidies program targeting consumer electronics and information technology products, and front-loading orders to avoid US tariffs also helped lift last month’s export orders, the ministry said.
Last month’s figure surpassed the ministry’s estimate of US$43.5 billion to US$45.5 billion.
Photo: CNA
The growth momentum is expected to extend into this month with export orders forecast to expand between 10.3 percent and 14.5 percent to between US$52 billion and US$54 billion, Department of Statistics Director Huang Yu-ling (黃于玲) said by telephone.
That would bring aggregate export orders this quarter to between US$148.4 billion and US$150.4 billion, an annual increase of between 11.3 percent and 12.8 percent, Huang said.
“We are looking at a fourth straight quarter of growth in the first quarter,” Huang said. “AI demand remains strong and healthy.”
The ministry expects Chinese start-up DeepSeek’s (深度求索) low-cost AI models to have a positive impact on Taiwanese companies in the long term on expectations that their affordability would accelerate the uptake of AI applications.
However, non-technology sectors still face pricing competition from overseas rivals due to overcapacity and their prospects remain bleak, Huang said.
In the first two months of the year, export orders for electronic products soared 21.8 percent year-on-year to US$37.35 billion, and those of information and communications technology products increased 6.1 percent to US$25.83 billion, which the ministry attributed to the rising demand for chips, servers and networking products amid the AI boom.
Orders for optoelectronic products rose 7.7 percent to US$3.22 billion during the two-month period, thanks to improved selling prices of large TV panels and higher demand for optical inspection tools, the ministry said.
Machinery and mechanical equipment orders rose 3.5 percent to US$3.03 billion in the first two months, as strong demand for semiconductor equipment offset weak sales of automation systems and machine tools, it said.
Faced with intensifying price competition from overseas rivals, Taiwanese suppliers of base metal, plastic and rubber, and chemical products saw their orders decline 10.7 percent, 8.3 percent and 6.9 percent to US$3.64 billion, US$2.74 billion and US$2.65 billion respectively in the first two months, the ministry said.
STRONG INTEREST: Analysts have pointed to optimism in TSMC’s growth prospects in the artificial intelligence era as the cause of the rising number of shareholders The number of people holding shares of chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) hit a new high last week despite a decline in its stock price, the Taiwan Depository and Clearing Corp (TDCC, 台灣集保) said. The number of TSMC shareholders rose to 2.46 million as of Friday, up 75,536 from a week earlier, TDCC data showed. The stock price fell 1.34 percent during the same week to close at NT$1,840 (US$57.55). The decline in TSMC’s share price resulted from volatility in global tech stocks, driven by rising international crude oil prices as the war against Iran continues. Dealers said
Taiwan’s natural gas supply remains stable through the end of May, despite rising concerns about potential disruptions to Qatari liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies due to escalating conflicts in the Middle East, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. The ministry in a statement said that Taiwan has completed preparations for natural gas supply and shipping schedules through the end of May. It has also made plans to increase natural gas imports from regions outside the Middle East in June to ensure a stable supply, it added. Taiwan sources natural gas from 14 countries and is not solely dependent on the Middle East,
China is clamping down on fertilizer exports to protect its domestic market, industry sources said, putting an additional strain on global markets that were already grappling with shortages caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran. China is among the largest fertilizer exporters — shipping more than US$13 billion of it last year — and it has a history of controlling exports to keep prices low for farmers. Shipments through the war-blocked Strait of Hormuz account for about one-third of the sea-borne supply. This month, Beijing banned exports of nitrogen-potassium fertilizer blends and certain phosphate varieties, sources said. The ban, which has not
Grab Holdings Ltd agreed to buy Delivery Hero SE’s Foodpanda operations in Taiwan for US$600 million, a deal that marks its first foray outside of its Southeast Asian base. The cash acquisition will allow Grab to expand into 21 cities across Taiwan, the Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery company said in a statement yesterday. Grab expects the transaction to be completed in the second half, subject to regulatory approvals. The purchase will give Grab a presence on the island of about 23 million people, helping it to expand beyond its intensely competitive home market. Grab has seen growth slow dramatically as it takes
RSS