July 02, 2008
Taiwan`s Export Orders Rise 14.46% to US$31.5 B. in May
Taipei, July 1, 2008(CENS)--The value of export orders received by Taiwan`s manufacturers and traders reached US$31.51 billion in May of this year, an annual growth of 14.46%, according to the statistics released by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).
Huang Chi-shih, director general at the Statistics Department of MOEA, indicated that the orders during the month came mainly from India and Southeast Asia since the economy stateside and Europe sagged, and the exports in the second half might slow down due to emerging global inflation.
Huang predicted that the export growth for the month would decline for the third consecutive month. He further pointed out that last month Taiwan`s LCD panel manufacturers witnessed a 30% downturn in exports to the U.S.
In May alone the annual growth of Taiwan`s industrial production stood at 5.33% and that of manufacturing production at 5.94%, both the lowest of their kinds since May of last year. Of the manufacturing industries, information technology (IT) and electronics industry climbed up by 14.54% while chemical and metal machinery industries increased by 3.92% and 0.54%, respectively. However, the consumer product industry decreased by 5.42%.
Nevertheless, Huang forecast, the annual growth of manufacturing production is very likely to grow to 7% in the first half due to official programs to stimulate domestic demand, and the potential business to be generated by further easing of Cross-Strait exchanges as direct flights.
In the same month, manufacturers of electronic products were the largest contributor to Taiwan`s exports and the orders received during the month enjoyed annual growth of 17.91%. The information technology (IT) and telecom product makers were the second largest contributors with annual growth of 17.65% in orders received. The corresponding percentage for petrochemical industry was a sizable 46.84% resulting from soaring crude prices.
In May Taiwan received US$7.07 billion worth of orders from the U.S. for an annual rise of merely 3.88%, accounting for 22.43% of the total; and those received from Europe totaled US$5.44 billion for a share of 17.26%. Orders from China and Hong Kong reached US$8.59 billion, making for largest share of 27.27%.
(by Judy Li)