離開
進入《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 Exports downhill momentum continues
The nation’s exports contracted 14.8 percent last month from the same period last year to US$22.54 billion. Photo: CNA
TRADE DATA WORRIES: The forecast continues to be bleak as imports decline, and companies slash capital expenditures in the fastest year-on-year retreat since 2001
By Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter
The nation’s exports contracted 14.8 percent last month from the same period last year to US$22.54 billion, shrinking by double-digit percentage points for the fourth consecutive month, as the global slowdown continues to depress trade, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
Imports plunged by 24.4 percent year-on-year to US$17.3 billion, the fastest retreat since the technology bubble burst in 2001, as companies cut capital expenditure and consumers tightened belts, with the trade surplus rising to US$5.25 billion.
The continued double-digit decline in exports in the past few months pushed the nation’s export-dependent economy closer to a downturn last quarter, economists said.
“The global slowdown is enforcing inventory adjustments that might persist throughout this year given the poor trade data,” Department of Statistics Director-General Yeh Maan-tzwu （葉滿足） said.
External demand remained slack worldwide, in particular in China and Southeast Asia, where outbound shipments slumped 20.5 percent and 17.2 percent, the report said.
The strong US dollar increased the costs of consumer electronic devices in emerging markets where central banks have adopted monetary easing and currency depreciation measures to boost exports, Yeh said.
The move might allow exporters to book foreign exchange gains but weakens their purchasing power of US technology products, Yeh said.
Taiwan is home to contract makers of semiconductors, camera lenses, touchscreens, batteries and other components used in Apple Inc’s iPhone 6S, Android-powered handsets and PCs.
The nation’s exports to advanced markets were also soft, in light of a 0.4 percent retreat to the US last month, a 15.1 percent tumble to Japan and a 9.4 percent drop to Europe, the report said.
Typhoon Dujuan trimmed one working day last month, eroding an estimated 2 percentage points from exports and 4 percentage points from imports, Yeh said.
The results lent support to forecasts by research institutes of an economic downturn last quarter and growth smaller than 1 percent for the whole of this year.
“The trade data is worrying because they indicate a persistently downward trend,” Taiwan Institute of Economic Research （台經院） economist Gordon Sun （孫明德） said by telephone.
The downtrend has extended to domestic demand, with a 6 percent slide recorded in imported capital equipment and an 11.6 percent drop in imported consumer goods, the report said.
It is unrealistic to think private consumption can sustain GDP growth amid faltering exports, Sun said.
CTBC Bank （中信銀行） economist Kingsley Lin （林崑峰） said exports missed government forecasts for last quarter, probably hindering the economy by 0.6 percent during the period.
“The economy would have great difficulty turning around if exports fail to improve,” he said in a telephone interview.
In the first nine months of the year, total exports amounted to US$212.4 billion, down 9.4 percent from the same period last year, while imports reached US$173.84 billion, a decrease of 16.5 percent year-on-year, the ministry’s report showed.
However, Taiwan still registered a trade surplus of US$38.57 billion from January through last month, an increase of US$12.11 billion from a year earlier, the report showed.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
