TRENDING UPWARD:While still declining annually, last month’s export orders rose 5.9% monthly on the back of chips used in smartphones and notebook demand from Europe

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 21, 2016
By: Lauly Li / Staff reporter

The nation’s export orders fell 2.4 percent year-on-year to US$35.7 billion last month, better than the government’s estimate of a 6.23 percent annual drop, as demand for notebook computers and semiconductor products picked up, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.

The results marked the 15th consecutive month of annual declines in orders, but the scale of the fall was less than the previous 14 months, ministry data showed.

Last month’s orders grew 5.9 percent from the US$33.73 billion recorded in May, the data showed.

“Robust demand for notebooks from the European market and chips used in smartphones were the main drivers of the monthly growth in Taiwan’s export orders,” Department of Statistics Director-General Lin Lee-jen (林麗貞) said at a news conference.

Export orders for information and communication products grew 10.4 percent month-on-month to US$10.34 billion, but edged down 0.5 percent year-on-year due to a high base last year as local manufacturers ramped up deliveries of Apple Inc’s smartwatches, Lin said.     [FULL  STORY]