TOUGH TRADING:While shipments of electronic components remained a bright spot, last month’s trade surplus was 11.2 percent less than September last year’s

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 08, 2016
By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter

The nation’s exports last month fell 1.8 percent from a year earlier to US$22.56 billion because the Mid-Autumn Festival and two typhoons reduced the number of working days and disrupted shipments, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.

The dip, while shallow and most likely short-lived, shows the domestic economy’s recovery is fragile and slow.

“The decline is not a surprise in light of the reduced working days last month, shorter only than the month that has the Lunar New Year holidays,” Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) said.

IMPORTS

Growth momentum remains on course and is increasing toward the end of the year, as evidenced by robust electronics sales and capital equipment imports, Tsai said.

Imports, a critical economic barometer because most stem from export needs, increased 0.7 percent to US$18.19 billion last month from a year earlier, ending six quarters of downturn, as local semiconductor firms bought new machinery to upgrade their production technology, Tsai said.   [FULL  STORY]