Taiwan's Exports Post 4th Straight Monthly Growth in May

Taiwan's exports edged up 0.3% from a month earlier to US$26.67 billion in May for the fourth consecutive monthly rise, but the growth rate may hit as high as 1.4% if compared to a year earlier, according to the statistics released by the Ministry of Finance (MOF).

In the same month the exports of electronic products hit the third consecutive monthly record high of US$8.56 billion. However, the information and communications technology (ICT) industry witnessed a sizable annual drop of 21.2% to US$1.24 billion in exports, with that of cell phones tumbling 37.2% to US$490 million. Likewise, the exports of minerals & related products declined 22% to US$1.45 billion for the lowest level since August 2012.

From January to May Taiwan's export value totaled US$126.58 billion, up 2.1% year on year, of which the shipment of electronic products jumped 12.9% year-on-year to US$38.699 billion, the highest among all exports. In the same period, the exports of minerals & related products declined 11.8% to US$9.15 billion and ICT products shrank  15.5% to US$5.17 billion.

In terms of region, Taiwan's exports to the United States in May inched up 1% YoY, and those to Europe and China rose 5.8% and 6.4%, respectively.

On another front, Taiwan saw the import value total US$21.38 billion in May for an annual drop of 2.3% and in the first five months the value rose US$112.3 billion for a minimal annual fall of 0.3%.

It's noteworthy that Taiwan's external trade with China showed an annual rise of 6.75% to reach US$17.326 billion in May, the first positive growth ever for the year, with exports climbing  4.28% to US$12.878 billion and imports up 14.64% to US$4.448 billion.

However, in the first five months China's external trade with South Korea rose an annual  5.3% to US$115.88 billion, far higher than Taiwan's corresponding US$76.29 billion, which plunged an annual 12.2%, making S. Korea China's sixth largest trade partner and Taiwan the seventh.

During the period, China's imports from Taiwan sharply dropped 14.3%, yet Taiwan is still China's sixth largest import source. (JL)