About 58 percent of semiconductors imported by Japan last year came from Taiwan, an increase of 2.5 percentage points from 2021, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said on Thursday.
The value of Taiwan’s semiconductor exports to Japan reached US$15.78 billion, up 32.7 percent annually, the ministry said in a statement.
Taiwan’s position as the top supplier of semiconductors to Japan put it well ahead of its nearest competitors, with the US holding an 8.5 percent share, China 8.3 percent and South Korea 7.5 percent.
Photo: CNA
The increase in exports to Japan reflects robust demand for specialty ICs and chips used in automotive electronics, the ministry said.
Semiconductors accounted for 47 percent of Taiwan’s total exports to Japan last year, which totaled US$33.61 billion, it said.
However, the pace of growth in exports to Japan fell to 15.1 percent annually, from 24.8 percent in 2021.
The ministry attributed the muted growth to geopolitical conflicts and rising inflation worldwide.
Last year, Taiwan was also Japan’s No. 1 supplier of storage media and polyformaldehyde products.
Storage media exports from Taiwan to Japan totaled US$1.08 billion, translating into a 29.8 percent share of Japan’s imports, ahead of China’s 22.5 percent share, South Korea’s 16.7 percent and the US’ 5.9 percent.
Exports of polyformaldehyde products to Japan totaled US$940 million, accounting for 34.7 percent of the country’s imports, ahead of Thailand’s 12.5 percent share, South Korea’s 12.3 percent and China’s 11.5 percent.
Taiwan sold US$620 million of computer and related devices to Japan last year, accounting for 4.1 percent of Japan’s total imports and becoming the third-largest supplier, after China at 76.5 percent and Singapore at 4.6 percent.
Meanwhile, Taiwan imported US$54.6 billion of goods from Japan last year, down 2.7 percent from a year earlier.
IC products were the most popular import from Japan, accounting for 17.1 percent of overall imports, but saw an annual decline of 8.7 percent, falling to US$9.36 billion, due to falling demand for memory chips, the ministry said.
Semiconductor equipment imports from Japan hit US$6.7 billion, up 10.8 percent from a year earlier and making up 12.3 percent of Taiwan’s total imports from Japan, it added.
Imports of wafers used in semiconductor production from Japan totaled US$1.69 billion, an annual increase of 17.4 percent and accounting for 3.1 percent of Taiwan’s overall purchases from Japan, the ministry said.
Japan was the largest wafer supplier to Taiwan last year, with sales accounting for 45.9 percent of Taipei’s total purchases, ahead of China with 21.9 percent, Germany with 8 percent and Singapore with 6.4 percent, it said.
The Netherlands was the largest supplier of semiconductor equipment to Taiwan with a 29 percent share last year, followed by Japan with a 23.1 percent share and the US with 20.9 percent, the ministry said.
China was the largest IC supplier to Taiwan, providing 29.1 percent of Taiwan’s total purchases, ahead of South Korea with 26.3 percent and Japan with 12.7 percent, it added.
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