Taiwan's machine tool exports up 37.2% in Q1

Taipei, June 7, 2004 (CENS)--Thanks to the substantial increase of orders in the fourth quarter of last year, Taiwan's exports of machine tools posted a sharp annual growth of 37.2% to reach US$468 million in the first three months of this year, according to statistics compiled by the Taiwan Machine Tool Foundation (TMTF) based on the customs-cleared statistics.

Of the total exports, metal-cutting machine tools commanded US$345 million, up 39%; and metal-forming models accounted for US$122 million, up 33%.

Among various kinds of metal-cutting machines, machining centers rose 62% in exports, lathes grew 42%; electric discharge machine, 27%; milling and boring machine, 26%, with others growing at a slower pace. In the category of metal-forming machines, forging, pressing, shearing machines posted an annual export growth of 41%, and other types of metal-forming machines 8%.

Hong Kong and mainland China accounted for 47.5% of Taiwan's total machine tool exports, absorbing US$222 million in the first quarter of the year, up 37% form the same period of last year. The United States ranked second with US$35 million, accounting for 7.6% and up 23%; Turkey absorbed US$25 million, accounting for 5.4% of the total and up 116% year-on-year.

Other major export outlets for Taiwan-made machine tools in the first three months included Thailand with an annual growth of 29%, Malaysia with 31%; Japan, 37%, the Netherlands, 57%; South Korea, 38%; India, 93%; Germany, 37%; Britain, 71%; Singapore, 122%; Indonesia, 16%; and France, 98%. By contrast, exports to some nations declined, including Italy with an annual decline of 28%; Vietnam, 18%; South Africa, 1%; and Australia, 31%.

TMTF's tallies also showed Taiwan imported US$420 million worth of machine tools in the first three months, shooting up 203% from the corresponding period of last year. Of this, imports of metal-cutting machines amounted to US$392 million, up 220%; and metal-forming machine tools, US$27 million, up 73%.

TMTF CEO Wang Cheng-ching attributed the growth of machine tool imports to the increased demand by both high-tech and conventional industries. Major import items were machining centers, milling machines, grinding machines, and gear processing machines.

Imports of forging, pressing and shearing machines grew by 50% annually in the first three months of this year and other kinds of metal-forming machines grew by 314%.

TMTF attributed the growth in imports of machine tools to the rebounded demand of by conventional industries, including the automobile and processed metal products, for precision machine tools. In addition, the demand for precision production equipment by some advanced industries, including semiconductor, information technology, electronics, telecommunication and photoelectronics, has recovered since 2003 after experiencing a sluggishness in 2001 and 2002.

The TMTF's tallies showed Taiwan imported US$218 million worth of machine tools from Japan in the first three months, accounting for 52% of the total imports and up 142% from the same period of last year. Imports from the U.S. came second with US$144 million, accounting for 34.4% of the total and up 444%; and Germany followed with US$21 million, commanding 5.2% and up 130%.

Generally speaking, major producing nations such as the U.S. and Germany will enjoy increased orders this year because of the global economic recovery. The U.S. shipped US$690 million worth of machine tools in the first three months, up 44.4%; Japan scored cumulative orders worth 26.85 million Japanese yen in the same period, up 29.6%; and South Korea saw orders amount to 421.1 billion Korean won, up 9.6%.

Taiwan's manufacturers of machine tools have enjoy sales recovery since March of this year because of the increase in orders and customers' requirement for shortening delivery time. Many manufacturers in this line expected to fare well in the remaining months of the year due to the projected increase in orders from the domestic market, mainland China, Southwest Asia, the Middle East and East Europe.

Seeing the promising prospect for the world machine tool market, TMTF especially called for domestic manufacturers to expand their shares of the emerging export markets by introducing innovative products and raising the added value of their products.

Imports of Machine Tools in Jan.-March 2004 by Origin Unit:US$1,000
Rank	Nation	Jan.-March 2004		Jan.-March 2003	Jan.-March 2004/ Jan.-Mach 2003
		Value	%
1	Japan	218,852	52.0	90,484	242
2	U.S.	144.630	34.4	26,569	544
3	Germany	21,814	5.2	9,490	230
4	South Korea	6,074	1.4	795	764
5	Switzerland	4,521	1.1	4,689	96
6	Italy	3,644	0.9	1,542	236
	Others	21,011	5.0	5,165	407
		420,546	100.0	138,734	303
Source: TMTF