Export orders rise for 6th straight month in August, up over 9%

Taipei, Sept. 24 (CNA) Taiwan's export orders increased more than 9 percent from a year earlier in August, marking the sixth consecutive month of year-on-year growth, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said Tuesday.

The ministry attributed the rise to robust global demand for emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) continued to benefit the local export-oriented manufacturing sector.

Data compiled by the MOEA showed Taiwan's export orders totaled US$50.22 billion, up 9.1 percent from a year earlier.

The latest export order total was the third highest for the month of August, trailing only August 2022's US$54.59 billion and August 2021's US$53.51 billion, and came after a 4.8 percent year-on-year increase in July.

In addition, August 2024 export orders came within the ministry's earlier estimated range of US$49.1 billion to US$51.1 billion, the data indicated.

In the first eight months of this year, Taiwan's export orders rose 3.5 percent from a year earlier to US$375.11 billion, the MOEA said.

Speaking with reporters, MOEA Department of Statistics Director Huang Yu-ling (黃于玲) said that on the back of strong demand for AI applications, high-performance computing (HPC) devices and cloud services, the local high-tech sector continued to deliver growth in export orders in August.

The information and communication industry generated US$14.14 billion in export orders in August, up 16.0 percent from a year earlier, as strong demand for AI applications and cloud services kept pushing up orders for AI servers, the MOEA said.

Meanwhile, foreign smartphone and PC brands placed large orders, paving the way to the launch of new products, the MOEA added.

The MOEA said export orders posted by the electronics component industry also rose 13.2 percent from a year earlier to US$17.84 billion in August due to rising popularity in AI and HPC devices as well as consumer electronics gadgets.

In August, the optical equipment industry posted US$1.89 billion in export orders in August, up 5.1 percent from a year earlier, as smartphone vendors placed large orders on critical components ahead of the launch of new products, while an increase in orders placed on optical testing and measuring devices also added momentum, the MOEA said.

The ministry continued that old economy industries were largely pushed up by growing demand in August.

An increase in demand for production equipment from semiconductor makers boosted export orders received by the machinery industry by 4.0 percent from a year earlier to US$1.67 billion in August, the MOEA said.

A rise in shipments of steel products and a hike in petrochemical product prices led export orders of the base metal and chemical industries to grow 0.2 percent and 7.7 percent, respectively, to US$2.03 billion and US$1.56 billion, the MOEA said.

Bucking the upturn, export orders taken by the plastics/rubber industry fell 3.2 percent from a year earlier to US$1.64 billion in August due to a supply glut on the global markets, the MOEA added.

Huang said most of the major old economy industries just reported a single digit growth in export orders in August, indicating an uneven recovery in end-user demand.

In August, the United States placed the largest orders of US$16.70 billion to Taiwan's firms, up 11.2 percent from a year earlier ahead of China and Hong Kong, which placed US$11.18 billion in orders, up 2.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the MOEA.

The MOEA said Taiwan's exporters are expected to see a boost from peak season effects in the consumer electronics market and continued strong demand for AI and HPC devices in the second half of this year.

However, the ministry still cautioned that lingering geopolitical unease and escalating trade tensions between the U.S. and China will impact the global economy.

Huang forecast export orders will range between US$53.8 billion and US$55.8 billion in September, up 4.7-8.6 percent from a year earlier. Export orders are expected to hit US$154.0 billion to US$156.0 billion in the third quarter, she said.