Taiwan's machinery exports make record monthly high in March: TAMI

Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI) announced today that the export value of machinery in March was USD$3.157 billion, an increase of 9% compared with USD$2.897 billion in the same period last year. It has grown for 19 consecutive months compared with the same period of the previous year and hit a record monthly high.

If calculated in New Taiwan dollars, the value of machinery exports in March was NTD$89.185 billion, an increase of 9% over the same period last year. According to the Machinery Association, this shows that Taiwan's machinery and equipment exports continue to flourish.

In the first three months of this year, Taiwan's machinery exports were valued at US$8.788 billion, an increase of 15.4% over the same period last year, or about NTD$254.321 billion, an increase of 13.7% over the same period last year.

TAMI's industry survey observation results showed that the export value of machine tools in March was at a USD$229 million, second only to testing and measuring equipment, electronic equipment, and power transmission parts, ranking fourth with a YoY growth of a 2.9%, and a 0.87% decline compared to February exports. Controller export figures performed admirably well, in March, the export value was at a respectable USD$186 million, ranking fifth, an increase of 184.4% over the same period last year. In the first three months of this year, the export of controllers was marked at USD$467 million, an annual increase of 179.1%. This represents that while the lead time for controllers is significantly longer, the industry's rush for goods and the stocking period continued to lengthen.

TAMI also named the Russian-Ukrainian war a major blow to the global economy, in particular, the sharp rise of prices for energy and raw materials had led to serious global inflation. At present, the cost of raw materials and shipping remains high, although the exchange rate of the New Taiwan dollar has depreciated recently due to the strengthening of the US dollar. In recent weeks, the exchange rate had dropped to nearly NTD$28.9 but neighboring countries such as Japan have fallen even more, with a decline of 8.03% so far this year, which is even more unfavorable to international competition for Taiwan's equipment manufacturers' exports.

Observing the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, TAMI representatives pointed out that the epidemic continues to affect the world. Facing the trend of coexistence with the epidemic and the gradual opening of borders, the number of confirmed cases in Taiwan has increased significantly recently. At present, the government's home isolation and listing conditions are still strict, and enterprises have suffered considerable losses due to the impact of the shutdown. TAMI has strongly recommended the government should appropriately relax the conditions as soon as possible so that undiagnosed people can enter the factory to work and maintain industrial and economic momentum.