Textile trade surplus slips to record low

Taipei, Jan. 10, 2003 (CENS)--Taiwan exported US$12.15 billion worth of textile products last year, down 3.8% from the previous year, and imported US$2.47 billion worth of textile products, resulting in a surplus of US$9.68 billion last year.

The trade surplus in the segment was the lowest on record since 1993.

An industry insider said domestic textile manufacturers have been seriously impacted by harsher global competition in light of Taiwan's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO).

In the first half of last year, Taiwan's manufacturers of textile products were battered by the appreciation of the domestic currency. They were hit in the second half by the dockworkers strikes at U.S. west coast ports.

Taiwan's textile trade surplus has been in chronic decline over the past decade. The island exported US$12.6 billion in 2001, down 17% from the previous year's US$15.2 billion.

With the exodus of upstream textile manufacturers, Taiwan has increasingly relied on imported textile products. Many textile manufacturers have to import semi-finished fabrics from mainland China for processing and re-export in Taiwan.

"Although domestic textile manufacturers are making all-out efforts to distance themselves from rivals in developing nations by developing high-value-added products, their efforts won't bear fruit in the short term," stated Huang Yao-tang, chairman of the China Textile Institute. "With Taiwan's entry into the WTO and the opening of domestic textile market, the domestic textile industry will face unprecedented hardships," he warned.

Despite the shrinking trade surplus, Taiwan Silk Filament Weaving Industrial Association chairman Lin Wen-chung said Taiwan's textile exports would grow modestly since many local firms have shifted to the production of high-value-added products.