Taiwan’s exports rose for a 16th consecutive month in October to a new monthly high, powered by an ongoing global economic recovery and solid demand for tech gadgets, according to the Ministry of Finance (MOF).
Taiwan’s exports rose 24.6 percent in October from a year earlier to US$40.14 billion, while imports grew 37.2 percent to a record US$34.02 billion, according to data released Monday by the MOF,
That resulted in a trade surplus for the month of US$6.12 billion, down US$1.3 billion from October 2020.
In the first 10 months of 2021, Taiwan’s exports and imports grew 30.0 percent and 33.7 percent, respectively, and set new annual records despite there still being two months left in the year, MOF data showed.
China and Hong Kong remained the largest overseas markets for Taiwan products in October. Exports to those economies rose 14.3 percent from a year earlier to US$16.22 billion, accounting for 40.4 percent of the total.
The United States came in second with a 15.5 percent share of Taiwan’s exports in October with purchases of US$6.23 billion in goods, up 29.4 percent from a year earlier.
The next biggest markets were the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc (US$6.03 billion, up 24.7 percent), Europe (US$3.75 billion, up 44.8 percent), and Japan (US$2.65 billion, up 23.1 percent).
Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜), head of the MOF’s Department of Statistics, said the high growth could be attributed to the global economic recovery, solid demand for tech gadgets, rising raw material prices, and increased consumer spending related to the holidays and new tech products.
Exports of information and communications/video and audio devices, base metal, and vehicles all hit record highs in October, and exports of machinery and plastics/rubber items were the second highest ever recorded per month, Tsai said.
Tsai was confident that exports in 2021 will surpass US$400 billion for the first time ever, and she expected continued growth in outbound sales in the first quarter of 2022 because of the heavy investment Taiwanese companies have made in capital equipment this year.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel