Taiwan's export orders up 13% to US$15.18 B. in Nov.

Taipei, Dec. 24, 2003 (CENS)--The value of export orders received by Taiwanese manufacturers and traders in November hit US$15.18 billion, up 13.14% from the same month of last year and the highest figure ever seen for the month, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).

The November figure hit the third-highest level of its kind ever recorded. MOEA expected the export orders received in December to maintain a double-digit growth as the climate of global economy keeps warming.

MOEA attributed the sharp growth in export orders to the ballooning demand of the huge market in mainland China and the economic recovery in the United States and Japan. Besides, the rising market demand in Western countries for the Christmas season and the island's "Information Technology Month" (Itmonth) show, from Nov. 29 to Dec.7, 2003 in Taipei, also contributed to the booming orders.

Chang Yao-tsung, director general of MOEA's statistics department, indicated that the export orders received last month were mainly for electronic information technology (IT) and telecom products. Compared to the same month of last year, the former enjoyed a growth of 21.11% and the latter16.24%.

In the same month, the orders for precision apparatus, boosted by the soaring global demand for digital cameras and thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panels, posted a whopping growth of 103.39%. While plastic & rubber products, with increasing orders from the U.S. and the mainland, saw an increase of 21.83%.

The statistics showed that November orders received from neighboring Hong Kong were valued at US$3.41 billion, up 17.71% from one year earlier; and orders for electronics products registered the highest growth of US$160 million. Orders from Japan stood at US$1.63 billion, up 17.74%, with electronics products also posting the largest increase of US$120 million, followed by IT & telecom products with an increase of US$80 million.