Taiwan Decline in export orders slowed in January, downside risks remain

TAIPEI: Taiwan’s export orders fell for the fifth consecutive month in January from the same period last year, but the pace slowed due to continued weakness in Chinese demand and weak global consumer spending on rising inflation and interest rates. slowed down.

Export orders for the island, a vanguard of global technology demand, fell 19.3% year-on-year to $47.51 billion, the economy ministry said on Monday (20 February). This exceeded analyst expectations of a 25.0% decline.

January’s decline followed a full-year decline of 23.2% in December, and last month’s orders were also impacted by the extended Lunar New Year holiday, which fell in both Taiwan and China in January.

However, orders for telecom products rose 9.8% year-on-year, the biggest increase since June last year, thanks to improved conditions in China’s supply chain, the ministry said.

Electronics orders fell 21.8%, but the decline was offset by demand for chips for high-performance computing and automobiles, he added.

Huang Yuling, head of the ministry’s statistics bureau, told reporters that 70% of the more than 2,000 companies surveyed had not seen any impact from China’s end to pandemic control as demand remained weak in the general environment. said.

Semiconductor demand, driven by new technology, will help traditional off-season orders in the first quarter, but “downside risks to the global economy remain high and could impact the performance of export orders.” ‘ said the ministry.

The ministry added that it expects export orders this month to be 6.9% to 10.8% lower than in February 2022.

Taiwanese companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd are major suppliers to Apple Inc, Qualcomm Inc and other global technology companies.

Taiwan’s January orders from China fell 45.9% year-on-year, compared to the year-on-year decline of 37.7% seen in December.

Late last year, China largely abandoned its draconian zero-COVID policy that led to widespread public dissatisfaction with the economic hit and lockdowns in the world’s second-largest economy.

Taiwanese orders from the US in January fell 14.7% from the previous year, exactly at the same rate as in December.

Export orders from Europe increased by 18.3%, with an annualized decline of 23.9% in December. Orders from Japan fell by 6%.