Taiwan's Export Order Shows Clear Sign of Upturn

Taipei, Aug. 25, 2009 (CENS)--Taiwan's export, the growth engine of its economy, has shown clear sign of upturn, as orders received by the nation's exporters in July reached US$28.61 billion, down 8.77% year-on-year, the lowest decline in nine months, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).

One major factor for the upturn is marked increase in orders from China, which amounted to US$8.18 billion in the month, up 2.22% year-on-year, a turnaround following one year of consecutive declines.

Huang Shi-chi, chief of statistics, the MOEA, was confident that the export-order performance will improve "month by month and quarter by quarter."

Export orders from Japan and ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) member nations slipped again, following positive growth in June, due to shrinking import of Japan and acute competition from Korean products in ASEAN. U.S. orders dropped 12.51%, worse than June, underscoring instability of the U.S. economic recovery, according to Huang Shi-chi.

FPD (flat panel display) scored an exceptional performance in the month, enabling orders for precision equipment, for which FPD is a major item, to jump 17.4%, thanks to the effect of China's "home appliances for rural areas" policy and earlier placement of orders for the Christmas season from Europe.

Machinery orders, though, slumped 30.16%, with machine tools faring the worst, reflecting that investment activities remained sluggish.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's industrial output dropped 8.11% year-on-year in July, the lowest decrease in 10 months, according to statistics released by the MOEA yesterday (Aug. 24).

Manufacturing output scored a lesser decline of 8.23% year-on-year, with the output of auto and parts industry growing 6.59% year-on-year, the best performance in the manufacturing industry, which underscores the strong upturn of the sector, after remaining in the doldrums for two years.