Tue, Mar 12, 2024 page12

• Machinery exports fall 2 percent in first two months, association says

  NEW MARKETS: Amid weakening exports and slowing demand in China, a Taiwanese machinery association urged its members to look to countries such as India and Vietnam

  • By Chen Cheng-hui / Staff reporter
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  The nation’s machinery exports in the first two months of this year fell 2 percent year-on-year, compared with a 3.8 percent decrease in December last year, the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry said in a report yesterday.

  Machinery exports — comprised mainly of inspection and testing of equipment, electronic equipment and machine tools — totaled US$4.3 billion in January and last month, down from US$4.39 billion in the same period last year, data compiled by the association showed.

  The association released the data for the first two months to avoid distortions from the week-long Lunar New Year holiday — which was in January last year, but February this year — when many businesses and factories are closed.

  

  People gather near a robotic arm displayed at a machine tool trade show at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center on Aug. 23 last year. Taiwan's machinery exports in the first two months of this year fell 2 percent year-on-year to US$4.3 billion, the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry reported yesterday.

  Photo: CNA

  Local machinery manufacturers have struggled to resume growth momentum as they grapple with weaker demand globally amid macroeconomic headwinds and unfavorable foreign exchange rates that are weighing on overseas sales.

  Domestic manufacturing activity has also remained in contraction mode since March last year, according to official purchasing managers’ index data released by the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (中華經濟研究院).

  However, the improvement in the annual decrease in machinery exports during the first two months of this year compared with December last year suggests a positive outlook for the industry’s business climate, the association said.

  Exports of machine tools in the first two months declined 16.8 percent year-on-year to US$337 million, reflecting the effects of falling production of fossil-fueled vehicles, geopolitical tensions and the sharp depreciation of the yen, the report said.

  However, overseas shipments of inspection and testing equipment increased 8.4 percent annually to US$737 million, while those of electronic equipment rose 3.7 percent to US$639 million during the first two months, it said.

  The US and China were the two largest buyers of Taiwanese machinery in the first two months of the year, at US$1.09 billion and US$929 million respectively, followed by Japan, with purchases totaling US$330 million, it said.

  Purchases from the US, China and Japan accounted for 25.4 percent, 21.6 percent and 7.7 percent of Taiwan’s total machinery exports respectively.

  Amid China’s weakening exports and slowing domestic demand, the association has increasingly called on member companies to look at other markets to diversify risk, with India and Vietnam becoming top choices for international deployment, the report said.

  Local machinery makers are cautiously optimistic about their business outlook this year, it said, citing a gradual improvement in order visibility.

  Nevertheless, foreign exchange rates remain a key factor affecting manufacturers’ ability to secure orders, it said, urging the government to keep a close eye on the exchange rates of rival nations.

  Since January last year, the New Taiwan dollar has depreciated 2.84 percent against the US dollar, while the won declined 5.89 percent, the yuan 4.37 percent and the yen 14.78 percent, it said.
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