Taiwan's May export orders hit record high, spurred by new tech

Taipei, June 20 (CNA) Taiwan's export orders in May reached a record high for the month, driven by continuously expanding global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, said the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) on Friday.

Export orders saw a year-on-year growth of 18.5 percent at US$57.93 billion, marking the fourth consecutive month of annual growth.

AI and cloud industry demands drove orders for information and communication products -- including servers, networking devices and display cards -- to a total of US$18.2 billion, marking a record high for the month and year-on-year growth of 29.5 percent.

Orders for electronic products such as semiconductors and printed circuit boards were pushed up to US$21.57 billion by AI and high performance computing demands, also a record high that marked an increase of 27.7 percent from last year.

However, in traditional industries, orders for chemical products and rubber or plastics decreased by 17.4 percent and 14.3 percent from the previous year, respectively.

Huang Wei-jie (黃偉傑), acting head of the MOEA's Department of Statistics, explained that in addition to its sluggish recovery, China's overcapacity in traditional industries has led to product dumping in other countries, which has eroded orders for Taiwanese firms.

Looking ahead, a survey on export order sentiment indicated that orders are expected to decline in June.

Huang said that companies in traditional industries, electronics, and information and communication sectors have reported a slowdown in advance orders. Meanwhile, server manufacturers expect a decline in June orders due to the usual transition between old and new product lines during that period.

Huang further noted that consumer products have also seen orders placed in advance. In addition to textiles, inventory for sales events in the second half of the year have been stocked.

With the 90-day suspension of "reciprocal tariffs" set to end on July 9, Huang acknowledged in response to media questions that uncertainty looms in the second half of the year due to unclear U.S. tariff policies.

These uncertainties could impact investment and consumption, Huang said, adding that both the Central Bank and the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics have forecast weaker economic conditions in the second half of the year.

Meanwhile, total export orders for the first five months of 2025 stood at US$263.8 billion, equivalent to 15 percent growth from the same period last year, according to MOEA data.