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.
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