Wed, Dec 21, 2022 page12

• Export orders fall steeper than expected

  DIM OUTLOOK: Export orders for this month are expected to fall up to 30 percent, while for the year, they are forecast to tumble 1.6 percent, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said

  • By Lisa Wang / Staff reporter
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  Export orders fell at a deeper-than-expected 23.4 percent annually last month to US$50.14 billion, as China’s stringent COVID-19 restrictions curtailed factory output and dampened domestic consumption, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.

  The ministry previously forecast that orders would fall 17.6 percent annually at the most.

  However, in the first 11 months of the year, export orders rose 1.4 percent year-on-year to US$614.61 billion, it said.

  

  A cargo ship is moored next to Evergreen Marine Corp shipping containers at the Port of Kaohsiung yesterday.

  Photo: CNA

  With no clear signs of a rapid improvement in macroeconomic conditions, the ministry said it expects export orders this month to drop for a fourth straight month at a rate of 27.8 to 30.8 percent to between US$47 billion and US$49 billion.

  For the year, export orders are forecast to fall by 1.6 to 1.9 percent to between US$661.6 billion and US$663.6 billion, the first annual decline since a US-China trade dispute started in 2019, the ministry said.

  “Uncertainty about the macro environment is escalating. Surging inflation and world central banks’ tightening monetary policies are all factors affecting consumer spending,” Department of Statistics Director Huang Yu-ling (黃于玲) said yesterday.

  “Besides, supply chains are still in an inventory correction cycle. All those unfavorable factors are erasing robust growth in chip demand from 5G, high-performance computing [HPC] applications and emerging technologies,” she said.

  Beijing’s recent easing of its COVID-19 controls resulted in a spike in infections, which could pose a new risk to the production lines of Taiwanese manufacturers in China and consumer demand there, she added.

  Last month, orders for electronics fell 15.2 percent annually to US$17.2 billion as sagging demand and persistent inventory digestion led to lower demand for chips, the ministry said.

  Increased demand for chips for vehicles, and 5G and HPC devices provided some cushion, it added.

  Orders for information and communications technology products — especially notebook computers, smartphones and graphics cards — plunged 30.5 percent to US$14.73 billion last month due to inventory adjustments by customers and China’s strict COVID-19 restrictions, it said.

  However, demand for cloud-based data centers and networking devices remained resilient, it said.

  Orders for optoelectronics, including flat-panel displays, fell 43 percent to US$1.52 billion last month, mostly because of a slump in panel prices, it said.

  The average selling prices of TV displays have gradually recovered, but computer display prices continued falling, the ministry said, adding that a quick recovery was not expected, as selling prices have tumbled 20 to 40 percent annually.

  Orders for basic metals dropped 35.3 percent to US$2.08 billion amid declining steel demand and falling prices, while those for machine tools contracted 17 percent to US$1.82 billion as manufacturers were reluctant to invest in new machines and manufacturing equipment.

  Orders for plastic products and petrochemicals also tumbled 36.7 percent and 28.9 percent to US$1.66 billion and US$1.54 billion respectively due to inventory adjustments, the ministry said.
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