Taiwan's export orders grow for eighth straight month

Taipei, Nov. 20 (CNA) Taiwan's export orders grew for the eighth consecutive month in October, and there is a high possibility that orders for 2024 will surpass those of 2023, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) on Wednesday.

Export orders in October totaled US$55.45 billion, an increase of 3.1 percent from September and 4.9 percent improvement year-on-year, the data showed.

Accumulated export orders from January to October totaled US$484.35 billion, up 3.8 percent from US$466.601 in the same period of last year.

The MOEA forecasts that due to strong artificial intelligence (AI) related demand and year-end stocking up, export orders will continue to grow until the end of 2024.

Increased demand for new technologies such as high performance computing has pushed up orders for electronic products to US$20.91 billion, the highest on record for the period, with 11.2 percent year-on-year growth.

On the other hand, although orders placed for information and communication products totaled US$17.58 billion, the third highest ever in the period, that still represented only a 0.5 percent year-on-year increase.

MOEA Department of Statistics Director Huang Yu-ling (黃于玲) said that the orders increased month-on-month but fell year-on-year.

The main reason is that suppliers have been monitoring inventories and consumers observing improving mobile phone functions as AI develops before making purchases, Huang explained. As such, the product cycle still needs to be observed, as there could be a sales peak next year.

Meanwhile, the four components that make up the the old economy sector -- basic metals, machinery, chemicals, plastic and rubber -- saw growth of 7.4 percent, 5 percent, 3.9 percent and 1.8 percent year-on-year, respectively.

The more gradual growth of the old economy indicates slow growth in demand.

Looking to the future, Huang said that orders in the fourth quarter are expected to surpass the third quarter. She estimated about US$53 billion-US$55 billion of export orders in November, representing 4.7-8.6 percent year-on-year growth.

Regarding export regions, orders from the United States accounted for US$19.15 billion in October, up 6.2 percent from September and 12.6 percent from the previous year, according to the MOEA data.