Taiwan's June export growth hits 28-month high on solid AI demand

Taipei, July 9 (CNA) Taiwan's exports rose 23.5 percent from a year earlier in June, the highest growth in 28 months, thanks to strong global demand for emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) applications, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said Tuesday.

Data compiled by the MOF showed Taiwan's exports totaled US$39.90 billion in June, up 23.5 percent from a year earlier, marking the eighth consecutive monthly year-on-year increase and the highest monthly growth since February 2022.

In June, Taiwan's imports hit US$35.22 billion, up 33.9 percent from a year earlier, marking the fourth straight monthly year-on-year increase and also the highest growth in 28 months, the MOF data indicated.

In the first six months of this year, Taiwan's exports totaled US$225.03 billion, up 11.4 percent from a year earlier, and imports reached US$188.91 billion, up 7.8 percent, while the trade surplus soared 34.9 percent year-on-year to US$36.12 billion.

Taiwan's 11.4 percent growth in exports in the first half of the year outperformed the world's major economic entities, Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜), director-general of the MOF's Department of Statistics, said at a news conference.

The growth rate was higher than South Korea's 9.1 percent growth during the same period.

It was also higher than Singapore's 6.8 percent growth, China's 2.7 percent growth, the United States' 1.8 percent growth, and Japan's 2.8 percent decline in the first five months. However, it lagged behind Hong Kong's 13.9 percent growth in the same period, Tsai added.

Tsai said the export growth in June can be attributed to pent-up end-user demand amid the steady global economic recovery, combined with booming demand for AI applications and high-performance computing (HPC) devices, and the replenishing of supply chain inventories, as well as a low base of comparison over the same period last year.

In June, the information communications and video/audio industry posted US$10.78 billion in outbound sales, surging 110 percent from a year earlier, largely due to business opportunities created by AI applications, Tsai added.

AI development has also boosted shipments of Taiwan-made AI servers and graphics cards, she said.

Meanwhile, exports generated by the electronic components industry rose 7.3 percent from a year earlier to US$14.58 billion in June.

The combined exports generated by the electronic components industry and the information communication and video/audio sector totaled roughly US$25.36 billion in June, which represents a 36.2 percent year-on-year increase.

In total, the two industries accounted for nearly 90 percent of the country's total outbound sales in June, according to Tsai.

Looking ahead, Taiwan's exports in July are forecast to grow 3-6 percent from a year earlier to US$39.9 billion-US$41.0 billion and continue to grow in the second half of the year on the back of robust AI and HPC demand, Tsai said.