Taiwan's May export orders soar over 47% year-on-year amid AI boom

Taipei, June 23 (CNA) Taiwan's export orders surged more than 47 percent from a year earlier in May, marking the 16th consecutive month of year-on-year growth amid the current AI boom, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said Tuesday.

Data compiled by the MOEA showed the country's export orders jumped 47.2 percent from a year earlier to hit US$89.48 billion in May, the second highest monthly level trailing only US$91.12 billion in March.

In the first five months of this year, Taiwan posted US$408.83 billion in export orders, up 49.0 percent from a year earlier.

In May, riding the wave of emerging technologies, the information and communication technology industry and the electronics industry generated US$32.37 billion and US$37.24 billion in exports, respectively, up 67.2 percent and 61.2 percent from a year earlier, the DGBAS said. The two industries accounted for almost 78 percent of total export orders in the month.

Bucking the upturn, the optoelectronics device industry saw its export orders fall 1.7 percent from a year earlier to US$1.89 billion. The MOEA said the decline reflected a cyclical downturn in flat panel demand.

In the old economy sector, the machinery industry posted US$2.17 billion in export orders in May, up 22.5 percent from a year earlier as semiconductor suppliers continued to buy equipment for production expansion, the DGBAS said.

On the other hand, the rubber/plastics industry suffered a 0.9 percent year-on-year decline in export orders totaling US$1.46 billion amid weakening demand from downstream clients, the DGBAS added.

Among major buyers, the United States placed orders valued at a new monthly high of US$36.39 billion in May, up 63.9 percent from a year earlier, with the increase largely coming from growing demand for servers and Internet communications devices.

The ASEAN bloc placed US$15.70 billion in orders for Taiwan goods in May, ahead of China and Hong Kong (US$15.10 billion), Europe (US$10.71 billion) and Japan (US$3.76 billion), the DGBAS said.

Huang Wei-jie (黃偉傑), head of the MOEA's Department of Statistics, told reporters that despite uncertainties created by geopolitical unease and unfavorable foreign trade policies, AI development is expected to continue to drive Taiwan's export orders higher for the rest of the year.

Taiwan is likely to have a better second half of the year than the first half, Huang said, adding that export orders could hit US$1 trillion this year.

The MOEA has forecast export orders will range between US$89.5 billion and US$91.5 billion in June, up 49.8-53.1 percent from a year earlier.

During the January-June period, export orders could rise 49.1-49.7 percent from a year earlier to between US$498.3 billion and US$500.3 billion, the MOEA said.