Machinery exports last month fell 1.4 percent year-on-year, a reversal of the previous month’s 2.1 percent growth, the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (台灣機械公會) said in a report yesterday.
Machinery exports totaled US$2.45 billion last month, compared with US$2.49 billion a year earlier, data compiled by the association showed.
On a monthly basis, machinery exports increased 2.6 percent from US$2.39 billion, the data showed.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
In the first 11 months of this year, machinery exports totaled US$26.66 billion, down 0.6 percent from US$26.86 billion in the same period last year, the association said.
Local machinery makers would see a gradual recovery in orders with room for improvement in the US market in particular, it said.
The association based its optimism on the latest export order statistics unveiled by the Ministry of Economic Affairs on Nov. 20, which showed that orders for machinery products and mechanical equipment had risen annually for four consecutive months through October.
However, as US president-elect Donald Trump has proposed tariff policies that he said would help shift manufacturing to the US, Taiwanese exporters must make early preparations to mitigate risk, even though the scope of the tariff impact needs to be monitored closely, it said.
Moreover, the unfavorable foreign exchange rates, such as the recent plunges in the yen and won, would weigh on local manufacturers in receiving orders, it added.
The US and China remained the two largest buyers of Taiwanese machinery goods during the 11-month period, at US$6.58 billion and US$6.21 billion respectively, followed by Japan, with purchases totaling US$1.96 billion, the data showed.
Purchases from the US, China and Japan accounted for 24.7 percent, 23.3 percent and 7.4 percent respectively of Taiwan’s machinery exports in the first 11 months, the data showed.
By product, inspection and testing equipment, electronic equipment and machine tools were the local industry’s top three machinery products from January to last month.
The report showed that overseas shipments of electronic equipment increased 3.4 percent year-on-year to US$4.54 billion and those of inspection and testing equipment rose 4 percent to US$4.34 billion, while outbound shipments of machine tools fell 16.2 percent to US$2 billion during the first 11 months.
Machine tool manufacturers are expected to regain momentum next year, as the segment has always been slower than other segments in the machinery industry in terms of business recovery, the association said, adding that it is also because the US market is expected to gradually heat up under Trump’s trade and industry policies.
The association said it maintains a cautiously optimistic view of this segment, as Taiwan’s machine tool exports to the US had shown positive growth for two consecutive months through last month.
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