Taiwan's February export orders up for 12th straight month

Taipei, March 22 (CNA) Export orders received by Taiwan-based companies grew for the 12th consecutive month in February, hitting a historical high for the month due to strong demand for tech gadgets with the global economy on path to gradual recovery, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) reported Monday.

Export orders in February totaled US$42.59 billion, up 48.5 percent from a year earlier, according to data compiled by the ministry.

The growth in export orders in the month can be attributed to increased shipments of tech gadgets driven by the booming work-from-home economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the gradual recovery of the global economy, the MOEA said.

The double-digit increase was also ascribed in part to a low comparison base last year because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the MOEA.

In the first two months of this year, the country's export orders totaled US$95.31 billion, up 49.0 percent from a year earlier, the figures showed.

Last month, export orders for information/telecommunication, electronics and optical/photographic/cinematographic products rose 88.4 percent, 52.4 percent and 59.4 percent, respectively, from a year earlier to US$5.35 billion, US$4.62 billion and US$790 million, according to MOEA statistics.

The United States, mainland China/Hong Kong, and Europe were the three biggest sources of export orders for Taiwan last month, mainly placing orders for electronics and information/telecommunication products, MOEA data showed.

The value of export orders placed by American firms in February surged 50.2 percent year-on-year to US$12.21 billion, while companies from China/Hong Kong placed orders worth US$10.91 billion, up 48.6 percent from a year earlier.

Last month, the value of orders from Europe reached US$8.65 billion, up 73.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the data.

Looking ahead, Taiwan's export orders for March are expected to rise 35.4-39.1 percent from a month earlier to a new high of US$54.5 billion-US$56 billion, said Huang Yu-ling (黃于玲), director of the MOEA's Department of Statistics.

The information/telecommunication, electronics and optical/photographic/cinematographic apparatus industries are forecast to see the biggest growth in March.

For the first quarter, export orders are expected to rise 43.7-45.1 percent from a year earlier to US$149.8 billion-US$151.3 billion, also a new high, Huang added.