Taiwan's January exports rise for 27th straight month, hit new high

Taipei, Feb. 9 (CNA) Taiwan's exports surged almost 70 percent from a year earlier to hit a new high in January, marking the 27th consecutive month of year-on-year increases during the current AI era, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said Monday.

Data compiled by the MOF showed the country's exports rose 69.9 percent from a year earlier to US$65.77 billion in January, and imports also grew 63.6 percent to the second highest monthly level of US$46.87 billion, with a trade surplus of US$18.89 billion, up 87.7 percent.

Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜), director-general of the MOF's Department of Statistics, said emerging technologies such as AI applications, high-performance computing devices and cloud services continued to boost Taiwan's outbound sales in January.

Tsai said the strong showing also reflected a relatively low comparison base over the same period of last year, when the Lunar New Year holiday fell, reducing the number of working days.

Tech gadgets continued to dominate Taiwan's exports with the information/information and audio/video industry reporting US$28.71 billion in outbound sales in January, up 129.8 percent from a year earlier, marking the 31st consecutive month of growth.

The electronic components industry generated US$22.36 billion in exports in January, up 59.8 percent from a year earlier, with integrated circuit suppliers reporting US$21.04 billion in sales, up 61.3 percent from a year earlier.

Major old economy industries also reported export growth, as machinery and electrical machinery manufacturers benefited from spillover effects from AI development. Exports in these sectors reached US$2.42 billion and US$1.42 billion in January, up 29.4 percent and 26.7 percent, respectively, from a year earlier.

The base metal industry posted US$2.55 billion in exports in January, up 22.3 percent from a year earlier, while the mineral product industry also saw its exports rise 40.7 percent to US$1.12 billion.

Although major industries all reported export growth, Tsai said, the strength remained uneven with the plastics and rubber industry bouncing back at a relatively slow pace after excluding seasonal factors.

By country, the United States was the largest buyer of Taiwan's products as its purchases totaled the third highest monthly level of US$21.28 billion in January, up 151.8 percent from a year earlier on the back of an increase in information and communication devices during the current AI boom.

China and Hong Kong came in second after posting US$16.03 billion in exports in January, up 49.6 percent from a year earlier, followed by the ASEAN bloc, purchases of which hit a new high of US$13.40 billion, up 61.8 percent from a year earlier.

In January, exports to Europe hit a new high of US$5.35 billion, up 106.0 percent from a year earlier, while outbound sales to Japan totaled US$2.96 billion, up 37.2 percent from a year earlier.