2004 a Banner Year For Machinery Exports and Imports

Machinery exports from Taiwan jumped 20.6% to US$12.37 billion in 2004, according to the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI), though imports surged ahead at more than double that rate.

TAMI's figures show a strong boost in demand for Taiwan-made machinery in mainland China, Southwest Asia, the European Union, and North America-Taiwan makers' fastest-growing markets last year. Domestic manufacturers also racked up gains in Japan, South Korea, Thailand, and Singapore.

Up, Up, and Away

Machine tools were the top export earners for Taiwan, ringing up overseas sales of US$2.25 billion, a 34% increase from 2003. Plastic and rubber processing machines took the number two spot at US$922 million, up 20%; pumps, compressors and fans followed at US$859 million, up 12%; special-purpose machines racked up US$771.66 million, a 48% increase; woodworking machinery came in at US$723.69 million, up 16%; valves and parts totaled US$690 million, up 20%; molds and dies earned US$575 million, up 7%; textile machinery bagged US$543.41 million, up 3%; sewing machines edged up 6% to US$512 million; bearings, gears and ball screws leaped 20% to US$435.5 million; paper-making and printing machines improved 4% to US$197 million. The notable decliner was the leather and shoemaking machine category, which tumbled 11% to US$108 million.

In terms of export outlets, Hong Kong and mainland China together ranked first, absorbing US$4.49 billion worth of domestically made machinery in 2004, accounting for 36.3% of the export total and up 15% from the previous year. The U.S. followed at US$2.22 billion, accounting for 17.9% of the total and up 27% year-on-year. The third place went to Japan with US$648 million, taking a 5.2% share and improving 13% from 2003. Thailand was as the fourth largest export outlet of domestically made machinery by absorbing US$536 million in 2004, up 29% year-on-year. Vietnam ranked fifth with US$389 million, up 3%. Malaysia stood at the sixth place with US$332 million, up 18%.

Other major export outlets, in descending order, included Indonesia, Germany, Turkey, Canada, the United Kingdom, South Korea, India, Singapore, Italy, Australia, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Spain, France, the United Arab Emirates, Mexico, Finland, Saudi Arabia, and Russia.

What Goes Out Must Come In

Even more impressive gains were seen on the import side of the ledger. Figures compiled by the Directorate General of Customs indicate that Taiwan absorbed US$18.18 billion worth of machinery in 2004, a whopping 52.4% gain from the previous year.

Of this, special-purpose machines ranked first, with an import value of US$6.17 billion last year, accounting for 34% of the total exports and up 53% year-on-year. TAMI says the special-purpose machines were mainly used in high-tech industries, including the semiconductor and 3C (communications, computer, consumer electronics) segment.

The second place went to machine tools, which saw import value reach US$1.98 billion, accounting for 10.9% of the total imports and up 1.3-fold. The third went to pumps, compressors and fans at US$980 million, commanding 5.4% of the total and up 35%; engines and parts ranked fourth with US$733 million, accounting for 4% and up 42%; plastic and rubber processing machines stood at the fifth with US$597 million, accounting for 3.3% and up 13%; valves ranked sixth at US$487 million, commanding 2.7% and up 43%; and textile machines ranked seventh with US$339.56 million, 1.9% of the total and up 8%.

According to an analysis prepared by TAMI, Japan and the U.S. were the biggest exporters of machinery to Taiwan. Japan sold US$9.93 billion worth of machinery to Taiwan last year, accounting for 54.6% of the import total and up 49% year-on-year. The U.S. came second at US$3.74 billion, commanding 20.6% and up 85%. Germany ranked third with US$1.2 billion, commanding 6.6% and up 36%.

Other major import sources, in descending order, were mainland China, South Korea, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Italy, and France.

Wang Cheng-ching, vice president of TAMI, says that domestic machinery manufacturers received a lot of rush orders in 2004, forcing plants to work overtime to keep up. Producers also had to deal with surging iron and steel prices, and a lack of pig iron and coke last year.

Wang predicts that Taiwan's machinery industry will post export growth of between 15% and 20% in 2005, with total output rising an estimated 15% in the year.