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進入《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 Exports see fourth month of gains: MOF
OUTBOUND AND UPWARD: Total shipments grew on a monthly and yearly basis last month, with electronics stealing the show by reaching an all-time high of US$8.56bn
By Amy Su / Staff reporter
Exports last month posted an annual increase for the fourth consecutive month, as shipments of electronics surged to a record high in indications that the nation’s trade environment is gradually improving, the Ministry of Finance （MOF） said yesterday.
Total outbound shipments were valued at US$26.67 billion last month, posting a rise of 0.3 percent on a monthly basis and of 1.4 percent from a year earlier, the ministry said in its monthly report.
The value of electronics exports totaled US$8.56 billion last month, soaring 15.2 percent compared with the previous year to hit their highest level ever, the report said.
“Nearly every type of products within the electronics sector showed annualized double-digit growth in outbound shipments last month, reflecting robust trading sentiment in the industry,” Yeh Maan-tzwu （葉滿足）, director of the ministry’s department of statistics, told a press conference.
Missing out on the overall upward trend in exports were optical item and mineral products, as well as information and communications technology （ICT） goods, Yeh said.
ICT goods continued to decline last month, posting a double-digit drop from a year earlier and offsetting the strong contribution by exports of electronics products, the ministry official added.
In terms of destination markets, Taiwanese exports to Asia increased 2.5 percent last month from a year earlier, with shipments to the US and Europe growing 1 percent and 5.8 percent year-on-year respectively, the report’s data showed.
The value of exports to China and Hong Kong — Taiwan’s largest export destination — totaled US$11.06 billion last month, gaining 6.4 percent from a year ago to hit its highest level since July 2011 and exceeding shipments to other markets, statistics said.
Last month’s mild year-on-year growth in exports was slower than the 6.2 percent recorded in April, mainly on the distortions caused by fewer working days led by the different timing of holidays, Yeh said.
As for this month, Yeh said that outbound shipments have to reach US$26.68 billion — the same value as last month — or higher for annual exports growth to reach the 2.7 percent target for this quarter that the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics forecast last month.
The ministry’s report showed that total imports value came to US$21.38 billion last month, down 2.3 percent from the previous year and 11.1 percent from the preceding month, marking the first year-on-year contraction in imports value since January.
That decline drove the nation’s trade surplus to US$5.29 billion last month, an increase of US$860 million compared with the same month a year earlier, the ministry said.
Tony Phoo （符銘財）, a Taipei-based economist at Standard Chartered Bank, said that the positive gains in the national trade surplus suggest that net trade is expected to contribute positively to overall economic growth this quarter.
However, Phoo added that imports of capital goods and raw materials had both declined year-on-year last month, which could be a cause for concern if the downward trend continues.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
