Export orders expanded by 10.8 percent annually last month, the highest year-on-year growth in two years, thanks to robust demand for chips used in artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) devices mainly from Nvidia Corp, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. It also outpaced the ministry’s upper estimate of 5.88 percent annual growth.
Export orders rose from US$42.49 billion in April last year to US$47.1 billion last month, while export orders dropped by 0.1 percent from US$47.16 billion on a monthly basis, the ministry said.
The ministry said it expects the growth momentum to carry into this month and export orders to rise between 1.8 percent and 6.2 percent annually to between US$46.5 billion and US$48.5 billion, as AI chip demand remains vigorous.
Photo: CNA
“April’s stronger performance and the growth prospects for May gave us higher confidence that export orders in the second quarter would return to growth on an annual basis, as compared with our initial estimate at the beginning of this year,” Department of Statistics Director Huang Yu-ling (黃于玲) said via telephone.
Electronic products orders soared by 22.7 percent year-on-year to US$17.1 billion last month, primarily fueled by robust demand for foundry services, chip distribution and printed circuit boards for AI-related applications and HPC devices, the ministry said. Orders from the US grew at the fastest pace of 35.8 percent.
Orders for information and communications technology products last month rose 8.4 percent annually to US$13.05 billion, backed by increased server orders on resilient demand for AI applications and cloud-based devices. Orders from Malaysia grew the highest at 53.3 percent, as manufacturers shifted production from China to the Southeast Asian country amid the US-China technology dispute.
Optoelectronics products orders expanded 13.5 percent annually to US$1.66 billion last month, attributable to increases in orders for TV panels and optoelectronic cameras. TV panel prices have also seen sustained high levels.
The price of 65-inch TV panels is to climb 1.1 percent month-on-month, or US$2 per unit, this month, extending price hikes over the past few months, market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday.
Three major traditional sectors returned to growth last month, driven by more marked restocking demand.
Orders for basic metals, mainly for steel, rose by 3.5 percent year-on-year to US$2.23 billion last month mainly due to restocking demand, the ministry said.
Plastics product orders increased 4.2 percent annually to US$1.61 billion on inventory buildup demand, the ministry said, adding that prices were supported by higher raw material prices.
Petrochemical products orders rose by 8 percent year-on-year last month to US$1.54 billion, as OPEC increased global crude oil prices by 5.9 percent year-on-year, the ministry said.
Machinery orders shrank 3.4 percent year-on-year to US$1.59 billion last month, because increases in equipment spending from semiconductor companies were still not enough to offset the broader weakness in capacity expansion amid a slow global economic recovery, the ministry said.
‘SHORT TERM’: The local currency would likely remain strong in the near term, driven by anticipated US trade pressure, capital inflows and expectations of a US Fed rate cut The US dollar is expected to fall below NT$30 in the near term, as traders anticipate increased pressure from Washington for Taiwan to allow the New Taiwan dollar to appreciate, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) chief economist Lin Chi-chao (林啟超) said. Following a sharp drop in the greenback against the NT dollar on Friday, Lin told the Central News Agency that the local currency is likely to remain strong in the short term, driven in part by market psychology surrounding anticipated US policy pressure. On Friday, the US dollar fell NT$0.953, or 3.07 percent, closing at NT$31.064 — its lowest level since Jan.
The US dollar was trading at NT$29.7 at 10am today on the Taipei Foreign Exchange, as the New Taiwan dollar gained NT$1.364 from the previous close last week. The NT dollar continued to rise today, after surging 3.07 percent on Friday. After opening at NT$30.91, the NT dollar gained more than NT$1 in just 15 minutes, briefly passing the NT$30 mark. Before the US Department of the Treasury's semi-annual currency report came out, expectations that the NT dollar would keep rising were already building. The NT dollar on Friday closed at NT$31.064, up by NT$0.953 — a 3.07 percent single-day gain. Today,
The New Taiwan dollar and Taiwanese stocks surged on signs that trade tensions between the world’s top two economies might start easing and as US tech earnings boosted the outlook of the nation’s semiconductor exports. The NT dollar strengthened as much as 3.8 percent versus the US dollar to 30.815, the biggest intraday gain since January 2011, closing at NT$31.064. The benchmark TAIEX jumped 2.73 percent to outperform the region’s equity gauges. Outlook for global trade improved after China said it is assessing possible trade talks with the US, providing a boost for the nation’s currency and shares. As the NT dollar
PRESSURE EXPECTED: The appreciation of the NT dollar reflected expectations that Washington would press Taiwan to boost its currency against the US dollar, dealers said Taiwan’s export-oriented semiconductor and auto part manufacturers are expecting their margins to be affected by large foreign exchange losses as the New Taiwan dollar continued to appreciate sharply against the US dollar yesterday. Among major semiconductor manufacturers, ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光), the world’s largest integrated circuit (IC) packaging and testing services provider, said that whenever the NT dollar rises NT$1 against the greenback, its gross margin is cut by about 1.5 percent. The NT dollar traded as strong as NT$29.59 per US dollar before trimming gains to close NT$0.919, or 2.96 percent, higher at NT$30.145 yesterday in Taipei trading
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