Taiwan's Export Order Value Hit New High of US$33.95B. in February

Taipei, March 22, 2012 (CENS)--Driven by economic recovery in the United States, export orders received by Taiwan's manufacturers and traders surged an annual 17.6% to US$33.95 billion in February, the highest ever in the same month, according to the statistics released by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).

Compared to a month earlier, the value increased by 7.84%, with the first-two-month value totaling US$65.44 billion, up 3.33% YoY.

M. N. Tsai, deputy director of the Department of Statistics of MOEA, indicated that in February orders from the U.S. jumped by 21.01% YoY to US$7.86 billion and that in the first two months also recorded a sizable annual rise of 10.99% to US$15.68 billion, implying economic recovery in the country.

However, in the first two months orders from China, including Hong Kong dropped an annual 3.11% to US$16.06 billion, with orders for machinery and related products falling the most at 29.1%. In the same period China spent US$2.7 billion on precision devices, mainly LCD panels, from Taiwan, for a 5.3% drop YoY or US$150 million.

Orders from Europe rose 18.3% to US$6.02 billion, and expanded to US$11.95 billion in the first two months for a rise of 7.76% YoY. And orders from Japan came to US$3.27 billion in February for an annual growth of 3.65%, but declined in the first two months by 7.25% to US$6.35 billion.

Orders from the six members of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) totaled US$7.1 billion, the highest of its kind and up 10.13% YoY.

A survey by MOEA shows that of the polled export-oriented domestic manufacturers 33.91% expects rising orders in March, versus 16.71% anticipating a decline, with 49.38% predicting no change.