Despite a rush of orders from China, the nation’s exports contracted to US$14.85 billion last month, down 4.8 percent from a month earlier, as the global economic downturn continued to dampen demand.
Custom-cleared exports shrank US$740 million last month with shipments to all major trade partners dipping between 0.1 percent and 2.6 percent when compared with March, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
Lin Lee-jen (林麗貞), head of the ministry’s statistics department, said trade with the US and Europe remained sluggish, even though sales of electronic goods to China picked up 9.6 percent, or US$380 million, from March.
Despite the data, Lin said the contraction in exports appears to have slowed as outbound shipments dropped 34.3 percent year-on-year last month, lower than the 36.6 percent slump in the first quarter.
“It is unlikely we will see a repeat of the 41.9 percent decline in December,” Lin told a media briefing. “Exports are expected to improve every month at a very slow pace.”
By contrast, imports rose to a five-month high of US$12.71 billion last month, up 4.4 percent from a month earlier, the report showed.
The figures, however, marked a yearly decrease of 41.2 percent, leaving a trade surplus of US$2.14 billion, the report said.
Exports to China, including Hong Kong, fell 33.6 percent to US$6.19 billion, while exports to the US and Japan sank 33.7 percent and 32.3 percent to US$1.78 billion and US$1.01 billion respectively.
Exports to Europe and ASEAN countries contracted 37 percent and 35 percent to US$1.59 billion and US$2.06 billion respectively.
Cheng Cheng-mount (鄭貞茂), head economist at Citigroup Taiwan Inc, said the data was surprisingly weak.
“The month-on-month decline shows the economy is in the doldrums,” Cheng said by telephone. “While it is not getting worse, it is not getting any better.”
Cheng said the latest figures confirmed his earlier observation that the rush of orders from China were limited and benefited only part of the high-tech industry.
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