Taipei, Nov. 9, 2012 (CENS)--Taiwan's exports dropped 1.9% year-on-year to US$26.53 billion in October and exports for the whole year are expected to dip 2.5%, the fourth worst performance in 30 years, reported the Ministry of Finance (MOF) yesterday (Nov. 8).
The export decline in October followed the upturn in September, which ended consecutive exports declines in the previous six months.
Exports in the first 10 months this year tumbled 3.7% year-on-year to US$250.13 billion, according to the MOF.
Imports also dropped 1.8% year-on-year to US$23.27 billion in October and slipped 4.7% to US$227.26 billion in the first 10 months this year.
Trade surplus advanced 7.4% to US$22.87 billion in the first 10 months.
Yeh Man-tsu, chief statistician of the MOF, however, predicted that exports will resume positive growth in November and December, scoring slight growth for the fourth quarter.
Yeh noted that Taiwan's exports performance will stabilize and bottom out in the fourth quarter, adding that exports of US$26.53 billion in October is the second highest in the recent one year. She stated that exports value will continue to exceed US$26 billion in both November and December.
The MOF attributed exports decline in October mainly to inability of the Asian market to keep up its demand.
Of the 10 major exports items, eight racked up exports decline in October, including 24.5% decline of information-communications products. Exports value in the first 10 months decreased by US$9.5 billion in the first 10 months this year from the same period last year, including US$4.2 billion of exports reduction of mobile phones.
With exports of information-communications products remaining in the doldrums, the MOF remarked that exports decline for the whole year is inevitable.
In the first 10 months, imports of both capital goods and raw materials dropped but imports of consumer goods advanced 3.3% year-on-year to US$20.91 billion, with imports of mobile phones scoring 48.7% growth, the highest, to US$1.58 billion.
(by Philip Liu)
