Taiwan's export orders in January end 10 straight months of growth

Taipei, Feb. 20 (CNA) Taiwan's export orders dropped 3.0 percent from a year earlier in January, ending 10 consecutive months of year-on-year growth, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said Thursday.

Taiwan's export orders totaled US$46.97 billion in January, representing an 11.2 percent decline from December 2024 and a 3.0 percent drop compared to the same period last year, data compiled by the MOEA showed.

The fall was mainly due to fewer working days in the month with the Lunar New Year holiday beginning in January this year compared to February last year and because some Taiwanese products were subject to low-price competition from overseas peers in January, the ministry said in a statement.

By product category, orders for information and communication technology (ICT) products totaled US$12.06 billion in January, down 13.3 percent from a year earlier.

The optical equipment industry received US$1.58 billion in export orders in January, down 0.3 percent from a year earlier.

In terms of old-economy products, the ministry said that due to the Lunar New Year and low-price competition effects, plus a decline in orders for automation equipment and a decrease in orders for machine tools, orders for four major product categories all showed falls.

Order for basic metals declined 21.7 percent from a year earlier to US$1.78 billion, while that for plastics and rubber products fell 20.5 percent to US$1.32 billion.

Export orders for chemicals also dropped 19.0 percent to US$1.22 billion, while the machinery industry saw orders fall 4.7 percent to US$1.53 billion, according to the MOEA.

However, strong global demand for emerging technologies drove up orders for electronic products to US$17.71 billion in the month, up 1.5 percent year-on-year, the MOEA said.

MOEA Department of Statistics Director Huang Yu-ling (黃于玲) said export orders in February are expected to hit US$43.5 billion-US$45.5 billion, up 15.3-20.6 percent from a year earlier.

Orders in the first two months are expected to reach US$90.5 billion-US$92.5 billion, representing 5.0-7.3 percent year-on-year growth, according to Huang.

Looking ahead, Huang cautioned domestic industries about the rapidly changing international political and economic situation, as the U.S. government continues to update relevant policies during the second term of President Donald Trump.