Exports last month increased a modest 3.5 percent year-on-year to US$37.36 billion, as shipments of electronics used in artificial intelligence (AI) remained strong and some non-tech products came out of the woods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
The increase lagged behind the 7 to 10 percent range the ministry expected, as firms at home and abroad largely maintained a cautious business approach, but their inventory mostly returned to healthy levels and the global economy is improving, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) said.
There is a lingering uneven recovery between product categories and export destinations — with exports of information and communication technology (ICT) products to the US driving most of the growth, helped by aggressive spending of US technology giants on AI infrastructure, she said.
Photo: CNA
The megatrend explained why ICT shipments such as AI servers and graphics cards surged 62.4 percent to US$9.42 billion, underpinning 25.2 percent of overall shipments, Tsai said.
Meanwhile, exports of electronics, mainly chips, shed 11 percent to US$13.4 billion, she said, adding that the retreat in electronics likely had to do with the reclassification of partial exports as imports to reflect changes in manufacturing locations.
It is better to combine electronics and ICT shipments to gain a better picture, as the two categories made up 64 percent of total exports and made a solid gain in the first five months of this year, she said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) robust revenue lent support to such an interpretation, Tsai said.
TSMC yesterday posted NT$229.62 billion (US$7.12 billion) of revenue for last month, a 30.2 percent spike from a year earlier.
Shipments of optical and precision products plunged 31.2 percent to US$892 million, while exports of transportation tools shrank 25 percent to US$880 million, the ministry’s report showed.
On the other hand, some non-tech products emerged from a slowdown, as customers started to rebuild inventory, Tsai said.
Exports of plastic grew 0.6 percent, while chemical and mineral products saw a growth 8.9 percent, the ministry said.
Shipments of textile products bounced 10.2 percent, given the demand for sportswear for the upcoming Olympic Games, she said.
Imports increased 0.6 percent to US$31.31 billion, giving Taiwan a trade surplus of US$6.05 billion, which is 21.6 percent higher than a year earlier, the ministry said.
Imports of agricultural and industrial raw materials picked up 5.8 percent, while imports of semiconductor equipment and luxury products declined 11.4 percent and 10.7 percent each, it said.
In the first five months, exports expanded 9.1 percent to US$185.14 billion and imports rose 3.2 percent to US$153.69 billion, it said.
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