Taiwan's Machinery Exports Up 10.9% in First Five Months

Taipei, July 29, 2008 (CENS)--Thanks to the increased purchase from Germany, Italy, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia, Taiwan's machine industry saw exports reach US$7 billion in the first five months of this year, up 10.9% year-on-year, according customs-cleared statistics compiled by the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI).

TAMI said domestic machinery manufacturers have seen substantial growth in export orders and export values over the past several months, despite the impact of the mounting inflation pressure worldwide.

Of the major export items, machine tools saw exports grow the most at 19.9% with export value reaching US$1.57 billion in the first five months of this year. The second-largest growth item went to special-purpose machines with exports of US$556 million, up 17.6%. The third place went to plastics and rubber processing machines with US$440 million, up 10.7%.

Affected by the sub-prime mortgage crisis, Taiwan saw a decline in machinery exports to mainland China, the U.S. and Japan, which were traditionally the island's top-three export outlets.

By contrast, Taiwan enjoyed substantial growth in machinery exports to some European and Asian nations. For instance, Taiwan's shipment of machinery to Vietnam in the first five months of this year shot up 59% from a year earlier; Germany, up 26%; Indonesia, up 38%; Italy, up 29%; and France, up 43%.

TAMI noted that to reflect the price hikes in upstream cast iron and steel plates, domestic machinery manufacturers have raised their selling prices over the past several months. In addition, some international buyers have purchased Taiwan-made machines in advance with the expectation of a global inflation, leading to substantial growth in sales of domestically made machinery in the first five months of this year.

Thanks to the strengthened euro, buyers of Germany, United Kingdom, Italy and France are stepping up procurement of domestically made machinery. TAMI predicted domestic machinery industry will see a moderate export growth of 10% this year.