Export orders up 7%, exceeding estimateGROWTH: Orders from Southeast Asian countries showed the strongest growth in ICT products. Export orders last month expanded to US$48.89 billion last month, beating the ministry’s estimate of US$48.5 billion for May, or outpacing its estimate of 6.2 percent annual growth. “Export orders in the second quarter are to ride out of a seven-quarter decline as prolonged inventory corrections are coming to an end for most industries,” Department of Statistics Director Huang Yu-ling (黃于玲) said via telephone. “We expect export orders to grow every quarter in the second half of this year amid normal seasonality.”It remains to be seen if the growth of export orders swings back to positive territory for the whole year, as major central banks hesitate to cut interest rates and the geopolitical situation remains precarious, Huang said. Last year, export orders dipped for a second straight year, falling by 15.9 percent year-on-year amid supply chain inventory adjustments and sagging end-market demand, ministry data showed.

Source: Taipei Times June 20, 2024 18:39 UTC