Taiwan Exports 17.1% More Machine Tools in First Eight Months

Taipei, Oct. 30, 2008 (CENS)--Taiwan exported US$2.591 billion of machine tools in the first eight months of this year, representing a 17.1% year-on-year growth, according to statistics compiled by the Taiwan Machine Tool Foundation (TMTF).

Exports for metal-cutting machine tools amounted to US$2.056 billion, up 18.3%, and that for metal-forming machine tools totaled US$535.42 million, up 12.9%.

In terms of the category of metal-cutting machine tools, the annual export growth for machining center hit 15.7%, lathes, 34.8%; grinding machines, up 2.7%; and milling and boring machines, up 14.5%. In the category of metal-forming machine tools, the growth rate for presses and shearing machines reached 10.3% and that for other metal-forming machine tools was 25%.

China and Hong Kong together ranked first by absorbing US$763.09 million of Taiwan-made machine tools in the first eight months of this year, down 7.9% and accounting for 29.4% of the total exports. The U.S. was second at US$231.68 million, up 5% and commanding 8.9%. Germany was third at US$147.98 million, up a whopping 57.9% and accounting for 5.7%.

Other major export outlets, in descending order, were Turkey, Italy, Brazil, the Netherlands, India, Thailand, South Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, United Kingdom, Japan and Indonesia.

The TMTF's tallies also showed Taiwan imported US$1.194 billion of machine tools in the first eight months of this year, down 34.9% year-on-year. Of this, import value for metal-cutting machine tools came to US$1.126 billion, down 36.4%, and that for metal-forming machine tools amounted to US$68.07 million, up 5.8%.

Japan was Taiwan's major supplier by selling US$734.7 million of machine tools in the first eight months of this year, down a mere 0.8% year-on-year and accounting for 61.5% of the total imports. The U.S. was second at US$252.83 million, down 68.3% and commanding 21.2%.

C.C. Wang, chief executive of the TMTF, noted most domestic machine-tool manufacturers believe they would see growth in orders from Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, India, North America, European Union, East Europe and Latin America for the rest of this year.