Thanks to recovering market demand for hand-held devices, the value of export orders received by Taiwan's manufacturers and traders reached US$37.94 billion in March for an annual rise of 5.9%, with the Q1 value reaching US$104.76 billion, up 2.7% year on year, according to the statistics released by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).
In the same month the directional movement index (DMI) of the export order value posted at 50.8, a little higher than the mid-point of 50. Among the export items, the DMI of ICT products, electronic items, basic metals, plastic & rubber products, chemicals, and machines all exceeded 50, yet that of precision devices, mainly LCD panels, plummeted to 30.4, implying a projected drop in export orders.
In March the export orders for electronics rose an annual 10.1% to US$9.29 billion and for ICT products up 8.6% to US$9.39 billion; while those for precision devices down 3.6% to US$2.86 billion. However, of the export orders received during the month, more than half were filled abroad, particularly ICT products at 89.8%, the highest of its kind ever recorded.
L. C. Lin, director of the Statistics Department of MOEA, believes that export orders in April will keep growing as the DMI of export orders in the second quarter stands at 58.4, higher than that of the first one. (JL)
