Taiwan June export orders jump; outlook clouded by global woes

TAIWAN'S export orders, a bellwether for global technology demand, logged a strong annual rise in June, recovering from Covid-19 lockdowns in China and global supply chain disruptions, but the government warned of a clouded outlook for global trade.

Export orders last month were up 9.5 per cent from a year earlier at US$58.8 billion, a record high for June, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said on Wednesday (Jul 20). Analysts had expected 5.6 per cent growth.

First-half orders rose 9.5 per cent compared with the same period of 2021.

June's rise followed a 6 per cent annual expansion seen in May's figures. April logged the first fall since February 2020, when the pandemic had just begun sweeping the world.

Orders for telecommunications products in June grew 22 per cent on a year before. An easing of pandemic measures in China helped unsnarl supply chains and begin clearing a backlog of orders for cellphones and laptop computers.

Orders for electronic products jumped 11.7 per cent, driven by semiconductor demand for high-end computing, automobiles and other appliances, it said.

The trend towards working and studying from home has fuelled growth in orders for Taiwanese electronics in the past 2 years or more, more recently reinforced by a global semiconductor shortage that has filled Taiwanese chip makers' order books.

The ministry said it expected July export orders to be between 0.4 per cent and 3.1 per cent higher than those of July 2021.

Global tech demand should keep driving export order momentum, the ministry said, but it warned of uncertainly from the war in Ukraine, global inflation and new Covid strains.

"It is feared these will restrain global trade growth," it added.

Taiwanese companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) are major suppliers to Apple, Qualcomm and other global tech firms.

TSMC last week announced a forecast-beating second-quarter profit, saying it was "highly confident" about its long-term prospects.

However, Taiwan's June orders from China were down 14.5 per cent from a year earlier, compared with an annual fall of 13.4 per cent seen in May. Month-on-month, orders from China inched up 0.2 per cent.

Orders from the United States rose 13.3 per cent on a year before, compared with the previous 10.5 per cent rise.

Export orders from Europe grew 18.8 per cent, compared with an annual expansion of 9.5 per cent in May, while those from Japan rose 5.9 per cent. REUTERS