The November figure represents a 14.34-percent year-on-year gain and is only 0.67 percent shy of the record amount of US$35.98 billion posted this September.
“Last month’s strong showing can be attributed to robust sales projections from the U.S. and Europe for the holiday season,” said Huang Ji-shih, director-general of the MOEA department.
The top three categories, accounting for 58.17 percent of all orders received, remained information and communication technology products, electronics and precision instruments including display panels.
Mainland China continued to account for the largest share of orders at US$9.19 billion. The U.S. came in second with a record high value of US$7.8 billion, while European orders of US$7.03 billion, the second highest figure in history, ranked third on the list.
Nearly 51 percent of orders placed with local firms were filled by their offshore production sites in October, continuing a steadily upward trend since March this year, when the 50-percent mark was first breached.
Accumulated export orders for the first 11 months of the year gained 27.32 percent over the same period last year to reach US$370.15 billion.
“With the December figure forecast at around US$35 billion, export orders for the year are expected to hit a record high of US$405 billion,” he said. (HZW)
Write to Meg Chang at meg.chang@mail.gio.gov.tw