Taiwan’s exports decline slows as surplus rises to record high

TAIWAN’S exports tumbled for the eleventh straight month in July in a sign that global demand for chips is slow to recover.

Overseas shipments fell 10.4 per cent to US$38.7 billion last month compared to a year earlier, the Ministry of Finance said on Tuesday (Aug 8). That was better than an estimated 20.7 per cent decline in a Bloomberg survey of economists, and marked an improvement from June’s 23.4 per cent fall – the biggest contraction in 14 years.

Imports dropped 20.9 per cent from a year earlier, following a 29.9 per cent plunge in June. The economy’s trade balance was US$8.5 billion, its highest level on record.

Home to the world’s leading chipmakers, Taiwan is facing a year-long slump in overseas appetite for technological goods – including its main product, semiconductors – worsened by slowing global economic growth.

“We see some signs that the semiconductor cycle may be troughing,” ING Groep economists Robert Carnell, Min Joo Kang and Nicholas Mapa wrote in a note. “That could see some moderation in the rate of decline relative to the consensus and to last month’s figures.” BLOOMBERG