Taiwan’s foreign trade increased 6.03 percent year on year to US$50.66 billion in April on the back of growing demand from Europe and the U.S., according to the ROC Ministry of Finance May 7.
MOF statistics revealed that Taiwan’s exports rose 6.2 percent from a year ago to US$26.6 billion, the second highest on record for the month, while imports gained 5.8 percent to US$24.06 billion. Net trade surplus increased 10.3 percent to US$2.53 billion.
Yeh Maan-tzwu, director-general of the MOF Department of Statistics, attributed the encouraging numbers to a strong recovery in the global semiconductor sector, as well as increasing investment and private consumption on the homefront.
According to Yeh, electronics were Taiwan’s top export item, gaining 14.7 percent to a record high of US$8.16 billion, or 30.7 percent of the total result. Chemicals and rubber and plastic products also chalked up rises of 11.9 percent and 9.3 percent, respectively.
But exports of optical and information and communication technology products both registered double-digit declines as demand for display panels and handsets failed to pick up, Yeh added.
Mainland China, including Hong Kong, remained the top destination for Taiwan’s exports, accounting for 39 percent of all outgoing shipments at US$10.4 billion. It was followed by the country’s six major trading partners in the Association of South East Asian Nations at 18.9 percent, the U.S. at 11.4 percent, Europe at 9.6 percent and Japan at 5.5 percent.
For the first four months of the year, exports gained 2.3 percent to US$99.92 billion, while imports inched up 0.2 percent to US$90.92 billion. Accumulated trade surplus soared nearly 30 percent to US$9 billion.
Yeh said she expects to see exports gather steam in May as the economies of Europe and the U.S. continue recovering, and local high-tech firms ramp up production capacity. (SFC-JSM)
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