Taiwan Machinery Exports Climb 1.4% in Q1

Taiwan’s machinery exports amounted to NT$139.1 billion in the first quarter of this year, a marginal improvement of l.4% from the year before, according to the latest statistics compiled by the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI). The rate of growth was depressed by declines in China and India.

On a U.S. dollar basis exports for the quarter totaled US$4.68 billion, almost unchanged from a year earlier. This performance raises concerns that the industry may be losing its growth momentum.

TAMI explained that some of the export sluggishness was due to fluctuations in steel and die-casting prices, along with the weakening of the NT dollar against the greenback. Another cause was slow progress in follow-up ECFA (Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement) negotiations on further trade facilitation between Taiwan and China. To date, over 100 types of machinery, machine tools, and related parts exported from Taiwan enjoy priority tariff cuts in China.

Yet another reason for lagging export growth, TAMI said, is rivalry from Korean competitors in the global market, especially since Korea signed free trade agreements with the EU and the U.S. The FTAs came into effect in July 2011 and March 2012, respectively, giving Korean-made machinery a price advantage over Taiwanese products.

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