TAIWAN’S export orders plummeted in May for a ninth consecutive month as a global dropoff in demand for semiconductors showed little sign of abating.

Overseas orders to Taiwanese companies shrank 17.6 per cent last month from a year earlier to US$45.7 billion, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said on Tuesday (Jun 20). That was better than the expectation of a 21.3 per cent plunge in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

The results were affected by inflation, rate hikes, lower end-user demand and softer prices for raw materials, according to a statement from the economics ministry.

Taiwan has struggled for months with declining demand for its exports – especially semiconductors, a key product and a major driver behind the months of drops. Overall exports fell 14.1 per cent in May, data released earlier in June showed, with chip shipments decreasing by 8 per cent, widening from the prior month.

Orders from the US fell 13.5 per cent in May from a year earlier, while orders from Hong Kong and China dropped nearly 21 per cent. Orders from Europe declined 34.9 per cent. The one bright spot was Asean, where orders improved 10.2 per cent – much higher than the 0.1 per cent uptick in April.

Only about 15 per cent of manufacturers expect orders to pick up in June, according to the economics ministry statement. Nearly a quarter expected them to worsen.

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Taiwan has been cutting forecasts for its 2023 growth outlook in part because of the slumping trade figures.

Last week, the central bank announced it expected the economy to expand 1.72 per cent this year, which would be the weakest pace since 2015. The government’s statistics department has similarly projected the weakest growth since that year. BLOOMBERG