Taiwan' s Machine Tool Exports Up 9% in Q1, 2006

Taipei, June 2, 2006 (CENS)--Overall exports of Taiwan-made machine tools amounted to US$631.947 million in the first three months of this year, representing an increase of 9% from US$579.864 million posted in the corresponding period of last year, according to custom-cleared statistics compiled by the Taiwan Machine Tool Foundation (TMTF).

Exports of metal-cutting machine tools amounted to US$484.02 million, up 12.3% year-on-year and those of metal-forming machine tools came to US$147.91 million, down 0.7%, the same tallies showed.

In respect individual metal-cutting machine tools, the Jan.-March exports of machining centers grew 15.9% annually; those of lathes were up 20.8%; electric discharge machines, down 2.7%; milling machines, up 7.2%; with the reminder growing at a small pace. In the category of metal-forming machine tools, exports for presses and shearing machines grew 1.8% and those for other kinds of metal-forming machines slid 8.8%.

In terms of export outlets for Taiwan-made machine tools, Hong Kong and mainland China ranked first with export value reaching US$231.32 million in the first three months of this year, down 0.5% and accounting for 36.6% of the total exports. The U.S. stood at the second place with US$65.88 million, up 7.7% and commanding 10.4%. The third place went to Turkey with US$33.55 million, up 13.6% and accounting for 5.3%. Other major export outlets, in descending order, were Thailand, the Netherlands, South Korea, Italy, United Kingdom, Japan, India, Germany, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, and Indonesia.

The TMTF tallies also showed Taiwan imported US$380.56 million worth of machine tools in the first quarter, representing an annual increase of 4.5%. Of the total, imports of metal-cutting machine tools accounted for US$351.93 million, up 3% and those of metal-forming machine tools came to US$28.62 million, up 27.3%.

Wang Cheng-ching, CEO of the TMTF, attributed the increase of imported machine tools to the resuscitated demand by such domestic high-tech industries as semiconductor, information technology, electronics, communications, and optoelectronics. In addition, demand for imported machine tools by domestic conventional industries is still on the rise.

In terms of the major sources of the imported machine tools, Japan ranked first by supplying US$174.55 million worth of the machines to Taiwan in the first three months of this year, down 20.9% annually and accounting for 45.9% of the total imports. The U.S. stood at the second place with US$129.15 million, up 78.1% and commanding 33.9%. Germany was the third-largest import source with US$22.3 million, down 0.3% and accounting for 5.8%.

Many firms believed they would see continued growth in orders received in the first half of this year because of the growing demand by such major export outlets as Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, Southwest Asia, the U.S., European Union, East Europe, and Brazil.

Taiwan Machine Tool Exports in Jan.-March 2006, by Products Unit: US$1,000
Products	Jan.-March 2005	Jan.-March 2006	Annual Change (%)
EDM, Laser-cutting Machines	32,271	31,413	-2.7
Machining Centers	169,670	196,731	15.9
Lathes	106,243	128,391	20.8
Drilling, Boring, Milling Machines	58,215	62,398	7.2
Grinding Machines	33,047	34,991	5.9
Shaping, Sawing, Gearing Machines	31,472	30,104	-4.3
Presses & Shearing Machines	113,946	115,984	1.8
Other Metal-forming Machines	35,000	31,935	-8.8
Total	579,864	631,947	9
Source: Taiwan Machine Tool Foundation

Taiwan Machine Tool Imports in Jan.-March 2006, by Products Unit: US$1,000
Products	Jan.-March 2005	Jan.-March 2006	Annual Change (%)
EDM, Laser-cutting Machines	248,284	290,998	17.2
Machining Centers	11,941	6,316	-47.1
Lathes	16,792	16,499	-1.7
Drilling, Boring, Milling Machines	14,723	14,461	-1.8
Grinding Machines	40,124	15,960	-60.2
Shaping, Sawing, Gearing Machines	9,877	7,703	-22
Presses & Shearing Machines	17,500	21,115	20.7
Other Metal-forming Machines	4,995	7,513	50.4
Total	364,236	380,565	4.5
Source: Taiwan Machine Tool Foundation