Taiwan’s exports last month increased 23.5 percent from a year earlier to US$39.9 billion, the fastest in 28 months as most product categories posted gains, led by electronics used in artificial intelligence (AI) applications, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
The advance was much faster than a range of 7 to 10 percent the ministry predicted last month thanks to an AI boom and demand ahead of expected launches of next-generation smartphones, laptops and other tech gadgets, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) said.
“As the high season [for technology products] approaches, export volume this month would gain further traction at an annual rate of 3 to 6 percent, even as the low-base effect tapers,” Tsai told an online media briefing.
Photo: CNA
Shipments of information and communications technology products last month more than doubled to US$10.78 billion, while electronic components, mainly semiconductors, rose 7.3 percent to US$14.58 billion, she said, adding that the two product categories combined accounted for about 90 percent of overall exports.
Technology titans in the US have built up AI capacities, efforts that have made the US the second-largest destination for Taiwanese exports after China, she said.
Taiwan is home to major suppliers of AI chips, servers, and storage and memory devices.
AI servers reportedly cost 10 times more than traditional servers, Tsai said, adding that it is difficult to gauge their exact contributions.
That explained why local electronics suppliers Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦) and Wistron Corp (緯創) had strong sales last month and their share prices soared.
Exports to almost all trade partners trended upward, except Japan, which declined 2.3 percent, ministry data showed.
Meanwhile, shipments of non-technology products improved, with increases ranging from 2.5 percent for base metal products to 23.8 percent for mineral products, the ministry said.
Tsai attributed the improvement to rising international oil prices and the end of inventory adjustments.
Textile products have benefitted from the upcoming Paris Olympics, she added.
Imports grew 33.9 percent from a year earlier to US$35.22 billion, giving Taiwan a trade surplus of US$4.68 billion, a 22.2 percent retreat year-on-year, the ministry said.
Better sales and business visibility made local firms more willing to buy materials that would be used to manufacture products for export and capital equipment to expand capacity, Tsai said.
In the April-to-June period, exports advanced 9.9 percent to US$114.73 billion, missing a forecast in May by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics by 4.6 percentage points, she said.
Imports grew 12.7 percent to US$97.55 billion, beating the projected 11.54 percent increase, she said.
The results indicate that the statistics agency might have been optimistic in its projections for exports and GDP growth this year, , the ministry said.
In the first half, exports rose 11.4 percent to US$225.03 billion, while imports picked up 7.8 percent to US$188.91 billion, it added.
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