Taiwan's export orders hit high in September on strong AI demand

Taipei, Oct. 21 (CNA) Taiwan's export orders continued to grow in the wake of the boom in artificial intelligence development hitting a new high in September, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said Tuesday.

Data compiled by the MOEA showed the country's export orders rose 30.5 percent from a year earlier to US$70.22 billion, marking the eighth consecutive month of year-on-year growth. The September figure not only smashed records but also beat the ministry's previous estimate of US$64.0 billion-US$66.0 billion.

In the first nine months of this year, Taiwan's export orders totaled US$524.37 billion, up 22.3 percent from a year earlier, the data indicated.

The MOEA said Taiwan continues to benefit from the fast growth of AI applications, high performance computing (HPC) devices and cloud services.

Huang Wei-jie (黃偉傑), head of the MOEA's Department of Statistics, told reporters that the better-than-expected September export orders largely reflected higher-than-expected demand for AI servers.

Export orders received by the electronics industry rose 45.9 percent from a year earlier to US$27.73 billion in September on the growing popularity of AI, as well as the debut of new consumer electronic products, the MOEA said.

In addition, the information and communications industry took US$23.43 billion in exports orders in September, up 33.1 percent from a year earlier due to AI related applications, while the optical equipment industry posted a 11.2 percent year-on-year increase in export orders of US$2.09 billion on growing demand for inspection and measuring devices, the MOEA added.

However, old economy industries largely lagged behind their tech counterparts in September, the ministry said.

The plastics and rubber industry obtained US$1.38 billion in export orders, down 10.0 percent from a year earlier on a global supply glut, while base metal industry's export orders fell 6.3 percent from a year earlier to US$1.88 billion as the steel market remained fragile.

However, the machinery industry received US$1.80 billion in export orders in September, up 11.4 percent from a year earlier as semiconductor suppliers continued to expand production, while the chemical industry posted a 1.4 percent year-on-year increase in export orders of US$1.39 billion due to higher demand for drugs and petrochemical products.

The United States placed US$25.29 billion in orders with Taiwanese suppliers in September, up 40.2 percent from a year earlier, ahead of the ASEAN bloc (US$14.74 billion), China and Hong Kong (US$12.23 billion), Europe (US$8.86 billion) and Japan (US$3.17 billion).

While AI development will continue to lend support to Taiwan's tech sector, U.S. tariff polices, in particular a possible levy on semiconductors, are expected to affect performance going forward, Huang said.

Taiwan's October export orders are forecast to range from US$68.6 billion to US$70.6 billion, up 23.7-27.3 percent from a year earlier, The MOEA said.

For 2025, the country's export orders are likely to reach a record high, surpassing the previous record of US$674.1 billion in 2021.