Accumulated exports from Taiwan's integrated circuit sector for the first eight months of the year totaled US$76.022 billion, up 21.6 percent from a year ago and a record high for the same period, according to statistics announced by the Ministry of Finance.
The total value of Taiwan's exports over the eight month period reached US$217.38 billion, up 1.5 percent from the same period last year, making Taiwan one of only a few economies that retained growth momentum amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, according to the ministry.
The increase in overall export value can be attributed to strong growth in exports of electronic components and information and communication products driven by solid demand for emerging 5G technologies and work-from-home devices.
Among the electronic components with strong exports, the IC circuit sector recorded US$11.285 billion in exports in August, up 20.4 percent from a year ago, and a record single-month high, due mainly to rush shipments to Huawei ahead of new U.S. sanctions against the Chinese tech giant.
Over the first eight months, IC exports accounted for 35 percent of Taiwan's total exports, also a record high, according to the statistics.
Ministry officials said that the strong growth in IC exports and the sector's contribution to overall exports was due to strong demand for technology products and a steep fall in the export of old-economy products, such as plastics, minerals and machinery products as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In terms of imports, the value of semiconductor equipment imports totaled US$1.9 billion in August, up 26.1 percent from a year ago.
For the first eight months, accumulated semiconductor equipment imports hit a record high of US$14.28 billion for the period, up 9.3 percent year-on-year, according to the statistics.
Ministry officials said the local semiconductor industry is expected to step up imports of equipment from foreign countries later this year, particularly high-end equipment from Japan and Europe, to improve its competitiveness.
This trend has been caused by the U.S.-China technology war, increasing business opportunities from emerging technologies and Taiwanese companies moving production back to Taiwan.
The anticipated increase in the purchase of semiconductor equipment is likely to boost Taiwan's overall imports and then result in greater exports, ministry officials added. -Central News Agency
No comments:
Post a Comment