The value of export orders placed by foreign companies with Taiwan-based businesses in October set a new record for the month, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) reported Monday.

Export orders were up compared to the same month a year earlier for a 20th consecutive month in October, rising 14.6 percent year-on-year to US$59.1 billion, but the figure was down 6 percent from September, according to data from the MOEA’s Department of Statistics.

The MOEA estimated that of the orders received, 53 percent will be produced overseas.

For the month, orders for computer/telecommunications goods reached US$18.51 billion, up 8.7 percent year-on-year due mainly to an increase in demand for notebook computers, display devices, servers and netcom products.

Orders for electronic products totaled US$17.21 billion in October, up 13.2 percent year-on-year, compared with 21.5 percent year-on-year growth in September.

The slowing growth in export orders for those products was due to supply chain crunch, said Huang Yu-ling (???), head of the MOEA’s Department of Statistics.

On a month-on-month basis, orders for electronic products and computer/telecommunications goods in October dropped 11.7 percent and 4.5 percent, respectively, Huang said.

Orders for optical equipment rose 14.1 percent to US$2.59 billion in October from a year earlier, while basic metal orders increased 39.1 percent on an annual basis to US$3.26 billion, according to the MOEA data.

By region, the four top sources of orders were the United States, China/Hong Kong, Europe and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the value of export orders all posted record highs.

U.S. companies placed orders worth US$17.03 billion, up 0.5 percent year-on-year and ahead of China and Hong Kong’s US$14.34 billion and Europe’s US$13.52 billion, which were up 21.7 percent and 18.2 percent, respectively, from October 2020, the MOEA figures showed.

In the first 10 months of 2021, export orders totaled a record US$540.73 billion, up 30.2 percent from a year earlier, the biggest growth since 1988, the figures showed.

Huang expected export orders to remain stable in the near future as the COVID-19 vaccination coverage rate continues to pick up and the global economy continues its stable recovery despite the volatile global COVID-19 situation and supply chain instability.

She expected the value of export orders received by Taiwanese businesses to reach between US$59.0 billion and US$60.5 billion in November.

The value of export orders has a good chance to break the US$600 billion mark for the first 11 months of 2021 and exceed US$650 billion for the year as a whole, Huang forecast.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel