Export orders last month expanded 15.2 percent year-on-year to US$57.64 billion, the sixth straight month of double-digit percentage growth and the highest ever for July, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
Last month’s figure increased 1.5 percent from the previous month and exceeded the ministry’s estimate of US$54 billion to US$56 billion, it said in a report.
The stronger-than-expected performance was fueled by robust demand for advanced semiconductors and servers needed for artificial intelligence (AI) computing, Department of Statistics Director-General Huang Wei-jie (黃偉傑) told a news conference in Taipei.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA
In the first seven months of the year, export orders grew 16.4 percent year-on-year to US$378.21 billion, ministry data showed.
Export orders this month are expected to decline month-on-month by 0.2 to 3.7 percent to US$55.5 billion to US$57.5 billion, the ministry said.
On an annual basis, export orders are forecast to increase by 10.5 to 14.5 percent, it said.
The booming AI business is poised to support the momentum of export orders in the second half of this year, Huang said, adding that it would still be affected by the tariff rates for some tech products, pending the outcome of a Section 232 investigation under the US Trade Expansion Act of 1962.
Last month, export orders for electronic components increased 24.8 percent year-on-year due to strong AI demand and global customers’ front-loading, the ministry said.
Orders for information and communications technology products grew 15.5 percent on the back of stable demand for servers, graphics cards and related products, while those for optoelectronic products gained 7.5 percent, it said.
Export orders for machinery products rose 6.2 percent annually, boosted by US efforts to promote domestic manufacturing, which drove demand for automation equipment, Huang said.
Potential long-term investments by chipmakers in the US are also expected to drive demand for automation and semiconductor manufacturing equipment, he said.
However, some machine tool makers face competition from Japan and Germany due to lower tariff rates than Taiwan’s, he said.
In traditional industries, export orders for plastic and rubber products fell 10.3 percent year-on-year last month, while orders for base metals dropped 12.6 percent and those for chemical products rose 7.8 percent, ministry data showed.
The order declines in plastic and rubber products, and base metals were due to oversupply from China, Huang said, adding that Beijing’s instruction late last month for Chinese manufacturers to cut steel output has yet to have a significant effect.
Ryanair, Transavia, Volotea and other low-cost airlines are feeling the financial pain from high jet fuel prices as a result of the Middle East war and are cutting flights. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has taken a huge chunk of oil supplies off the market, sending the price of jet fuel soaring and triggering fears of shortages that could force airlines to cancel flights. Airlines are not waiting for a lack of supplies to react. “Travel alert: Airlines are cutting thousands of flights right now,” Travel Therapy host Karen Schaler said in an Instagram reel this past weekend.
MANAGING RISKS: Taiwan has secured LNG sufficient to cover 95 percent of electricity demand for next month, UBS said, describing the government’s approach as proactive UBS Group AG has raised its forecast for Taiwan’s economic growth this year to 8 percent, up from 6.9 percent previously, and said expansion could reach as high as 8.6 percent if external energy shocks are avoided. The upgrade reflects a stronger-than-expected first-quarter performance and sustained momentum in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven exports, which UBS said are providing a firm foundation for growth despite geopolitical and energy risks. Taiwan’s GDP expanded 13.69 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, the fastest growth since the second quarter of 1987, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) reported on Thursday. On a seasonally
The list of Asian stocks that benefit from business partnership with Nvidia Corp is getting longer, as the region further integrates into the artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant’s business ecosystem. Just in the past week, South Korea’s LG Electronics Inc, Taiwan’s Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技), as well as China’s Huizhou Desay SV Automotive Co (德賽西威) and Pateo Connect Technology Shanghai Corp (博泰車聯) have become the latest to rally on news of tie-ups, supply-chain participation or product collaboration with the US chip designer. Asian suppliers account for about 90 percent of Nvidia’s production costs, up from about 65 percent last year, data compiled
The Fair Trade Commission’s (FTC) ongoing review of Grab Holdings Ltd’s US$600 million acquisition of Foodpanda Taiwan’s operations, announced on March 23, has taken on fresh urgency as industry experts warn that the transaction could embed significant Chinese cybersecurity vulnerabilities into Taiwan’s digital infrastructure through Grab’s deep ties to autonomous-driving firm WeRide (文遠知行). Less than 16 months after the FTC blocked Uber Eats’ direct attempt to acquire Foodpanda Taiwan — citing potential combined market shares of 80 to 90 percent — the emergence of Grab as the buyer has prompted questions about whether the same competitive harm is simply being rerouted
RSS