Taiwan’s January export orders increased 60.1 percent year on year to US$76.91 billion, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said March 4.
Among the country’s main export sectors, information and communications technology product orders rose 102 percent to US$25.15 billion fueled by strong demand for servers and networking products resulted from rapid growth of artificial intelligence applications and cloud-related services, the MOEA said.
Electronics soared 78.6 percent to US$32.59 billion, which the ministry attributed to increasing orders for integrated circuit design and manufacturing, chips, memories, printed circuit boards and packaging and testing services.
Equally impressive were orders for machinery, up 40.6 percent to US$2.15 billion, the MOEA said, adding that the performance stemmed from semiconductor manufacturers’ decision to expand production capacity, driving the growth of relevant equipment orders, as well as increasing demand for automation equipment.
Other sectors, including basic metals, chemicals, optoelectronics, plastic and rubber products, all reported gains of 8.8, 10.4, 18.6 and 13.9 percent, respectively.
Taiwan’s top source of orders remained the U.S., up 64.3 percent to US$27.54 billion. This was followed by members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, up 67 percent to US$15.84 billion; China and Hong Kong, up 58.9 percent to US$14.13 billion; Europe, up 56.1 percent to US$9.33 billion; and Japan, up 44.1 percent to US$3.45 billion.
The MOEA remains optimistic about the outlook even though challenges such as rising geopolitical risks and international trade policy uncertainty might slow down global economic growth, adding that the demand for Taiwan’s advanced semiconductor manufacturing and servers is booming as countries worldwide are actively investing in AI infrastructure, which will support the growth momentum of the country’s export orders. (YCH-E)
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