cens logo

Taiwan Machinery Exports Reach 4-Month Consecutive Growth: TAMI

2021/01/12 | By EDN

Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI) reported Taiwan's machinery exports saw a four-month-consecutive growth as of December 2020, signaling a rebounding industry.

However, TAMI also pointed out that the rebound is still stunted by a shortage of global shipping containers, causing delay and blockage at ports. The unstable Taiwan Dollar fluctuating more than usual has also limited the machinery industry's profit and could lead to companies considering to raise product prices. Whether the sector would turn to such measures remains to be seen as companies have responded that they must consider the impact on their competitiveness abroad.

According to statistics from TAMI, the value of machinery exports in December last year was recorded at US$2.599 billion, a YoY-increase of 6% from the US$2.451 billion. The cumulative export value of machinery for the whole year of last year was USD$26.08 billion dollars, a 4.2% decline from the previous year. If valued in Taiwan dollars, the amount was about NTD$77.102 billion, a drop of 8.4% from the previous year.

Observing the top three equipment in terms of export value of machinery last year, TAMI reported that the inspection equipment valued approximately US$3.744 billion, accounting for 14.4%, an increase of 11.8% over the previous year. Electronic equipment yielded US$3.521 billion, accounting for 13.5%, an increase of 9.2% from a year earlier; Machine tools were USD$2.154 billion, accounting for 8.3%, a decrease of 29.7% from the previous year.

In terms of main export destinations, TAMI reported China at the top with

USD7.828 billion, accounting for 30%; the U.S. market at USD$5.824 billion, accounting for 22.3%, and the Japanese market at third with USD$1.741 billion, accounting for 6.7%.

At present, global shipping container prices have skyrocketed, TAMI reported, largely due to the intensifying COVID-19 pandemic causing processing speed at customs to slow down significantly. At the same time, shipping companies are also unable to send back empty containers, further exacerbating the issue.

Another pressing factor continues to be the issue of exchange loss. The association pointed out that the global American dollar is seeing a lackluster performance while Asian currencies continue to advance. TAMI reported that with the Taiwan dollar has already closed at NTD$28 and under an unstable market, the export-oriented machinery industry will only see greater challenges.