Join +750K new investors every month who copy stock picks from billionaire's portfoliosSign Up Free

Taiwan Jan export orders fall more slowly, downside risks remain

Published 2023-02-20, 03:49 a/m
© Reuters. A container is lifted at Keelung port, northern Taiwan, October 30, 2015. REUTERS/Pichi Chuang/File Photo

By Faith Hung

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan's export orders in January contracted from a year earlier for a fifth month in a row, though at a slower pace, hit by a continued slump in Chinese demand and weaker global consumer spending due to inflation and interest rate rises.

The island's export orders, a bellwether for global technology demand, had been 19.3% lower than a year before at $47.51 billion, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said on Monday. That beat analysts' expectations for a 25.0% decline.

January's drop followed December's 23.2% annual fall, with last month's orders also affected by the long Lunar New Year holiday, which fell in January in both Taiwan and China.

However, orders for telecoms products rose 9.8% from a year earlier - the strongest rise since last June - thanks to an improving supply chain situation in China, the ministry said.

Orders for electronic products fell 21.8%, though the decline was offset by demand for chips for high-performance computing and automobiles, it added.

Huang Yu-ling, director of the ministry's statistics agency, told reporters that 70% of more than 2,000 companies it had surveyed had seen no effect from the end of China's pandemic controls, because demand in the general environment remained weak.

While semiconductor demand driven by new technologies would help orders in the traditional low season in the first quarter, "the downside risks of the global economy are still high, which may affect the performance of export orders", the ministry said.

The ministry added that it expected export orders this month to be lower than in February 2022 by between 6.9% and 10.8%.

Taiwanese firms, such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd,, are major suppliers to Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) Inc and other global tech companies.

Taiwan's January orders from China were 45.9% lower than a year earlier, versus the annual fall of 37.7% seen in December.

China late last year largely abandoned a stringent zero-COVID policy that had led to widespread public frustration with lockdowns and damage to its economy, the world's second largest.

© Reuters. A container is lifted at Keelung port, northern Taiwan, October 30, 2015. REUTERS/Pichi Chuang/File Photo

Taiwan's orders from the United States in January fell 14.7% from a year earlier, the exact same rate as in December.

Export orders from Europe rose 18.3%, versus December's annual fall of 23.9%. Orders from Japan contracted 6%.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.