Taiwan's Export Order Value Grows 5.2% to US$38.21B. in August

The value of export orders received by Taiwan's manufacturers and traders reached US$38.21 billion in August for an annual rise of 5.2%, the seventh consecutive monthly growth, according to the statistics released by Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).

L. C. Lin, director of the Statistics Department of MOEA, indicates that in August the three major export categories including electronics, ICT (information communication technology) and machinery all witnessed double-digit export growths, with export values being the highest of their kinds ever recorded in August.

Due to continual launches of new handheld devices, mainly smart phones like iPhone6, Taiwan's d export orders for electronic products grew the 15th consecutive month in August, which drove the island's high-end wafer foundry, wafer design, package testing, and DRAM.

In the same month export orders of machines rose double-digit for the fifth straight month thanks to global economic recovery resulting in increasing demand for  production equipment. Machine orders from Europe, the United States, China, Hong Kong and six members of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) rose US$50-80 million each during the month. It's noteworthy that the value of such orders from Europe jumped 35.7% from the previous year, indicative of significant economic recovery in the area.

However, orders for precision devices dropped 1.4% year-on-year to US$2.81 billion in August, the 16th consecutive monthly fall. Nevertheless, orders from China and Hong Kong for such products rose US$90 million, the first positive growth in 12 months.

Orders from China and Hong Kong continued to exceed US$10 billion to hit US$10.16 billion in August, up 2.9% YoY, of which orders for electronic products rose US$730 million, the highest rise of all items exported to the area.

In the same month, orders from the U.S. came to US$9.43 billion, a new high for this year and up  5.1% YoY. Among the export items, orders for electronic products showed the highest increase of US$150 million and ICT products followed with US$90 million.

Orders from Europe totaled US$6.33 billion for YoY growth of 5.5% for the 13th straight monthly uptrend, with that from Japan totaling US$3.21 billion for  6.9% YoY rise and the 10th consecutive monthly rise. Orders from Japan for ICT products rose  the highest annually 17.7%.

Orders from ASEAN declined  3.7% from a month earlier to US$4.7 billion in August, but up 13.9% YoY, with orders for electronic products showing the highest rise of 56.8%.

Lin says, Taiwan's export orders filled overseas in August accounted for 50.9% of the total, with that of ICT products hitting a high of 91.4%. In the same month the directional movement index (DMI) of export order value stood at 58.1, indicative of uptrend in  September to total an estimate exceeding US$40 billion.

If export orders continue trending upward for the rest of the year, the export value for 2014 will likely again hit record high of US$450 billion, Lin predicts. (JL)