Flourishing demand from major trade partners drove Taiwan's export orders to an all-time high in March. Export orders in March increased by 44.66 percent compared to the same period last year to reach an all-time high of US$34.39 billion, according to statistics released April 20 by the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Orders from China amounted to US$9.81 billion for the month, the best performance registered in history. Orders from Japan and Taiwan's major trading partners in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations also hit record highs last month. Precision instruments (including display panels) were the top achiever with an 87.84-percent year-on-year increase. “A lower comparison base and an improving market outlook contributed to the outperformance,” said Huang Ji-shih, director general of the MOEA's Department of Statistics. Orders for information communication technology products surged by 40.25 percent year on year, thanks to robust demand for notebook computers and mobile phones. Orders for other electronic products grew by 39.13 percent, with momentum coming from semiconductor and memory products. “Strong private consumption following speedy economic recovery in Japan, mainland China and the ASEAN member nations were the major reason behind these best-ever numbers,” Huang reasoned. Further analysis of the tallies shows that 50.69 percent of the March orders were filled by offshore manufacturing facilities set up by Taiwan-based firms, the first time in history that the ratio has breached the 50-percent mark. An unnamed MOEA official pointed out that a great number of Taiwan's ICT and electronics firms have moved their production to mainland China. In the past, most of these companies would keep their more advanced manufacturing processes on the island. But in recent years, these firms have been moving those processes to the mainland in a move to establish complete supply chains for better access to raw materials and end markets, the official said. “This shows that even though Taiwanese firms are enjoying booming business coming from abroad, the record-high orders did not provide much help to the country's job market.”
