Exports last month spiked 14.2 percent to US$43.32 billion, the second-highest increase on record and the 25th consecutive month of gains, driven by global demand for electronics used in high-performance computing and vehicles, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
The ministry expects the trend to sustain this month and beyond, although the pace could slow due to inventory corrections for laptops, smartphones and other consumer electronics.
“The July results proved stronger than expected despite rising fears over economic uncertainty,” Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) said, adding that a high sales season in the West and stabilized COVID-19 infections in China helped produce the robust showing.
Photo: CNA
Tsai said she predicts an increase of 8 to 12 percent in exports, with an unprecedented volume of up to US$44.2 billion for this month.
Exports of electronics last month expanded 15.6 percent year-on-year to US$16.96 billion, led substantially by semiconductors, which generated US$15.52 billion, the ministry’s monthly report showed.
Shipments of information and communications technology devices posted a hefty 13.3 percent advance to US$5.89 billion, but exports of optical devices took a hit from worsening inventory adjustments due to sluggish sales of notebook computers, Tsai said.
Exports of non-tech products also showed mixed results for last month, the report showed.
Most product categories delivered positive growth of 4.7 percent to 22.3 percent, the report said, due to continued recovery in the global economy, although the shadow of a recession escalates.
Shipments of plastic products contracted 7.1 percent from a year earlier, as demand for COVID-19 prevention gear weakened, it said.
Exports to major partners rose with shipments to the US, Europe and ASEAN markets reaching new highs, Tsai said, adding that eased COVID-19 restrictions in China allowed shipments to the market to grow 6.1 percent, reversing a 15.8 percent decline in June.
Imports last month expanded by 19.4 percent year-on-year to US$38.29 billion, as local firms purchased materials and components to meet export needs ahead of the summer holiday season, Tsai said.
Imports of agricultural and industrial raw materials soared by 21.4 percent to US$27.23 billion, while capital equipment increased by 16.2 percent to US$6.78 billion, the report showed.
The latest trade data showed a trade surplus of US$5.03 billion for last month, a 14.5 percent retreat from a year earlier, dragged by higher import prices, it said.
In the first seven months of this year, exports rose by 18.4 percent to US$289.97 billion, while imports grew by 23.9 percent to US$257.25 billion, as the nation should benefit from another year of strong exports, Tsai said.
Separately, Tsai said China’s economic measures against Taiwan are unlikely to have a major effect on trade between the two economies, given how closely they are intertwined.
Her remarks came after China last week slapped Taiwan with trade curbs on some fish and fruit imports and natural sand exports following US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.
However, agricultural exports accounted for only 0.6 percent of exports last year, DBS Group Holdings Ltd said, while China’s natural sand exports to Taiwan amounted to about US$1 million — small compared with the bigger trade picture.
“Right now Taiwan’s and China’s electronics industries are highly dependent on each other,” Tsai said, adding that Taiwan is China’s largest source of imported integrated circuits.
“We expect very little chance of China imposing stricter economic sanctions on Taiwanese businesses due to our highly reliant economic relations,” she said.
Exports were largely unaffected the last time Beijing significantly increased pressure on Taiwan, in 1995 and 1996, even as financial markets took a hit, she said.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
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