Taiwan outpaces rivals in machine-tool sales growth in first 5 months

Taipei, Aug. 16, 2005 (CENS)--Taiwan outpaced such rival competing nations as Japan, South Korea and the United States in terms of machine-tool sales growth in the first five months of this year. Taiwan exported US$1.058 million worth of machine tools in the period, representing a 26% year-on-year growth, according to statistics compiled by the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI).

South Korea ranked second with a 25.6% annual growth and exports of 844.5 billion Korean won in the first five months, followed by the U.S. with an annual growth of 17.9% and US$1.204 million, and Japan with a growth of 17.4% and 557.6 billion Japanese yen.

TAMI vice president Wang Cheng-ching attributed the marvelous sales growth of the domestic machine-tool industry to concerted efforts of makers to develop such emerging markets as Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and eastern Europe. Another factor that helps the booming sales of the products is the leading manufacturers' full-swing development of high-value-added machine tools.

Wang noted since the fourth quarter of last year domestic machine-tool manufacturers, no matter what the sizes they are, have been making all-out efforts to develop emerging markets to alleviate the impact of the implementation of a stringent credit-control policy imposed by the mainland Chinese government.

In addition, domestic leading firms in this line, including Victor Taichung Machinery Works Co., Tong-Tai Machine & Tool Co., She Hong Industrial Co., Goodway Machine Corp., Falcon Machine Tool Co. and Awea Mechantronic Co., are concentrating on the production of such high-value-added products as horizontal and double-column machining centers, combination lathes, and special-purpose machines for aluminum wheels.

Edward Yang, chairman of the Precision Machinery Research and Development Center, says domestic manufacturers of machine tools have made great progress in internal management and research and development of innovative products over the past several years. He said the efforts made by domestic machine-tool manufacturers over the past few years have paid off as many of them have gathered strength to compete with rival producers of such industrialized nations as the U.S., Japan and Germany.

Despite the substantial growth in sales of machine tools in the first five months, Yang admitted it's still unclear for domestic machine-tool manufacturers to take foreign orders for shipments in the fourth quarter of this year. He cautiously predicts domestic machine-tool industry should be able to grab a 15% up to 20% annual growth in export value this year.