China and inflation and interest rate rise continued to constrain global demand, dragging down Taiwan’s export orders in February.
On Monday, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said that the island’s export orders, which reflect worldwide technological demand, decreased by 18.3% to $42.12 billion.
February’s result was worse than experts’ 15.0% forecast and January’s 19.3% drop.
“February export orders failed expectations largely because demand for consumer electronics was significantly less than predicted… mainly because electronics and telecom items did not meet forecasts,” the ministry stated.
It claimed telecoms and electronics orders declined by 20.3% and 21.9%, respectively.
The ministry claimed inflation, interest rate pressures, and the Russia-Ukraine confrontation might slow global economic growth in the coming months.
It noted that high-performance computers, artificial intelligence, cloud data centers, and vehicle electronics would counteract that.
China and the US, Taiwan’s biggest markets, have slowed demand, hurting its export-driven economy.
Taiwan’s Chinese orders dropped 35.5% in February, compared to 45.9% in January.
Most analysts anticipate Taiwan’s central bank to maintain the benchmark interest rate during its quarterly rate-setting meeting on Thursday.
The government projected export orders to dip 20.2% to 23.4% this month from a year earlier.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (2330. TW) supplies Apple Inc (AAPL.O), Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O), and other tech companies.
US orders to Taiwan declined by 12.6% in February, compared to 14.7% in January.
European export orders fell 13.1% after January’s 18.3% increase. On the other hand, Japan’s orders increased by 5.5% year-over-year.
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