Taiwan's April export orders down 3.52 percent

TAIPEI: Taiwan's export orders in April fell 3.52 percent from a year ago, in a second consecutive monthly decline caused by weak

 demand from China, Europe and Japan, the government said Monday.

The $36.1 billion in orders, which came after a 1.58 percent decline in March, was worse than expected and sparked concerns the slowdown may persist, analysts said.

"The amount was around $1 billion less than predictions," Cheng Cheng-mount, chief economist at Citibank Taiwan, told AFP.

Looking ahead, he said "China remains the single biggest factor that may dictate the export sector's performance".

In April, export orders from the Chinese mainland, the island's leading trade partner, fell 7.8 percent year-on-year to $9.3 billion, while those from Japan dived 11.5 percent and those from Europe edged down 0.78 percent.

The economy expanded by just 0.36 percent in the three months to March, the slowest since 2009, according to the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics. The figure compared with a February prediction for first-quarter year-on-year growth of 1.19 percent.

First-quarter growth was down from 1.89 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011 and was at the lowest level since the third quarter of 2009 when it contracted 1.41 percent.

But the budgeting body has insisted that the export-reliant island will see the slowdown bottom out in the first quarter.