Taiwan Nov export orders slow but on track for a record in 2014

TAIPEI: Taiwan's export orders grew slower than expected in November, amid global uncertainties, and the island's economics ministry slightly trimmed its forecast for this year's total, which still should set a record.

Export orders in November rose 6 percent from a year earlier, below the 8.8 percent forecast in the Reuters poll as well as the ministry's expectations for around a 10 percent gain.

Still orders for information communication goods, the main driver for Taiwan's exports, posted a record monthly high of US$13.69 billion in November.

This underpinned hopes for the technology export-driven economy to wrap up a bumper year of orders fuelled by popular demand for Apple Inc's newest iPhone.

Taiwan's export orders are an indication of the strength of Asian exports and of global demand for technology.

Lin Lee-jen, statistics director of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, said Taiwan's export orders for this year could total around US$470 billion, down a bit from the estimated US$480 billion she offered last month, but still a record level.

November orders totaled US$43.51 billion, down from October's US$44.9 billion - also a record high - because of falling demand for petrochemical goods, the ministry said.

Orders from the US and Europe rose by strong double digit year-on-year percentages, however orders from China, including Hong Kong, fell 3.4 percent from a year ago.

FEWER MAINLAND ORDERS

The decline came as China's economy slows and as the mainland, trying to nurture the development of its own industries, takes fewer orders from Taiwan, Lin said.

Taiwan's statistics agency last month cut its forecast for 2015 exports, citing below-par growth expected for China and the European Union.

This year, the release of Apple's iPhone 6 was the biggest economic fillip to Taiwan, whose companies make a sizable share of the gadget's circuitry.

Many of the technology orders are handled by Taiwanese-owned factories based in China, with the final goods being exported from the mainland to consumers in the US and Europe.

Due to the high base from this year boosted by demand for the new iPhones, the monthly year-on-year growth in export orders next year will likely slow, said Shawn Shih, economist with Sinopac Securities in Taipei.

Shih said as long as the monthly order value remains around US$37 billion-US$38 billion, any slowdown in the growth rate shouldn't be a concern for the trade-reliant island economy.