Taiwan 4th Largest Supplier of Horizontal Machining Centers in 2007

Taipei, March 3, 2008 (CENS)--Taiwan was the mainland China's fourth-largest supplier of horizontal machining centers, behind Japan, Germany and South Korea, in 2007, according to statistics compiled by the mainland customs authority.

Thanks to expanded investments by its automakers, South Korea replaced Taiwan to become China's third-largest supplier of horizontal machining centers last year. The mainland customs statistics showed that South Korea shipped 2.73 million horizontal machining centers with export value totaling US$67.72 million to China last year, accounting for 12.7% of China's total imports of such products.

C.C. Wang, vice president of Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI), said horizontal machining centers are increasingly employed in car and mold-making sectors. Over the past several years, domestic machine-tool manufacturers have been doing their utmost to develop such models. Shipments of the machines from Taiwan to the mainland are increasing, but Taiwan was outpaced by South Korea in shipments of the machines to China because the island, unlike S. Korea with KIA Motors for example, has no big carmakers to invest in China to support its strong growth.

Wang believed that the domestic machining center sector can only compete favorably against and exceed South Korea in the mainland market by enhancing added-value of their products via developing peripheral equipment, and stepping up software programming to upgrade machining sophistication and complexity.

Global shipments of horizontal machining centers to China totaled 15.8 million units worth US$534 million in 2007, with Japan being the largest supplier at 809 units worth US$273 million, accounting for 51% of the total shipment; Germany being the second largest at 252 units, commanding 26.7%. South Korea ranked third by shipping 273 units of the machines to China, accounting for 12.7%; Taiwan came in fourth place by shipping 161 units of the machines to the mainland, accounting for 4.9%.