Taiwan Export Orders Grow for First Time Since 2018

(Bloomberg) --

Taiwan’s export orders posted the first monthly increase since 2018 in December, with the government forecasting that growth will continue in the first quarter of this year.

Orders rose 0.9% in December from year earlier, with a rise in shipments to China and Hong Kong, the European Union and South East Asia. While orders are forecast to drop this month, the economy ministry sees them rising in February and over the first three months of the year.

Orders fell 5.3% in 2019 as the trade war and weak global demand affected demand for the island economy’s goods. The expansion in December is due to more demand for 5G communications equipment and high-performance computing, plus an easing in trade tensions between the U.S. and China, MOEA statistics director Huang Yu-lin told reporters.

Growth momentum of export orders in the first quarter is typically limited by the low season of the electronics industry, she said. However, this year it may be boosted by the increase demand seen in December, amid eased tensions of US-China trade war, he said.

--With assistance from Adela Lin.

To contact the reporter on this story: Cindy Wang in Taipei at hwang61@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jeffrey Black at jblack25@bloomberg.net, James Mayger

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.