Jan 19, 2009
Taiwan Machinery Makers Export 10.7% More Goods in First Eight Months of 2008
The machinery sector in Taiwan exported US$11.598 billion of products in the first eight months of 2008, up 10.7% from that in the previous year, according to the statistics compiled by the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI).
The export value of the machine tool category exceeded all others, totaling US$2.591 billion in the first eight months, up 17.1% year-on-year. The second highest was the special-purpose machine category at US$912.89 million, up 16.1%, with the plastics and rubber processing machinery category ranking third at US$756.03 million, up 11.9%.
Other major export items, in descending order, were the category of woodworking machinery (US$438.73 million, up 0.3%), molds and dies (US$363.1 million, up 6.5%), textile machinery (US$354.9 million, down 19.2%), sewing machinery (US$247.3 million, down 2.9%), paper making and printing machinery (US$168.78 million, down 10.8%), and leather and shoes making machinery (US$59.38 million, up 19%).
Mainland China and Hong Kong collectively bought the most Taiwan-made machinery, totaling US$3.297 billion, in the first eight months, up a mere 0.1% and accounting for 28.4% of the total exports. The U.S. was the second biggest buyer at US$1.766 billion, up 1.5% and commanding 15.2% of the total. Japan was third at US$674.33 million, up 8.2% and accounting for 5.8%. Other lesser importers of Taiwan-made machinery are shown in the table below.
Machinery Imports
The TAMI statistics also show that Taiwan imported US$13.085 billion of machinery in the first eight months of this year, representing a 4.6% year-on-year growth.
The import value of the special-purpose machinery category topped all the others, reaching US$3.74 billion in the first eight months, up 2.3% and accounting for 28.6% of the total. TAMI said such special-purpose machinery is mainly employed by high-tech industries as semiconductor manufacturing and 3C (computer, communications, consumer electronics). The second biggest was the category of machine tools at US$1.194 billion, up 34.9% and commanding 9.1%. The category of pumps, compressors and fans registered an import value of US$717.7 million, up 9.9% and accounting for 5.5%; while other categories with lesser import values are shown in the following table.
C.C. Wang, TAMI vice president, said that the imported machines are mainly used by high-tech industries as optoelectronics, communications, information technology and semiconductor, adding that Taiwan still buys the bulk of imported machinery from Japan and the U.S.
Japan & the U.S. Major Suppliers
Taiwan bought more machinery from Japan than any other nation, totaling US$5.475 billion, up 5.2% and accounting for 41.8% of the total imports. The U.S. was the second biggest supplier at US$2.949 billion, down 13.4% and accounting for 22.5%. Hong Kong and mainland China came in third at US$1.293 billion, up 34.7% and commanding 9.9%. Other major supplier nations, in descending order, were Germany, South Korea, Italy, United Kingdom, Switzerland and France.
With the world predicted to be mired in a downturn till at least mid-2009, the TAMI warned of reduced capital expenditures, hence declining purchase of machinery globally.
The TAMI predicts an 8% to 10% growth for Taiwan`s machinery industry in 2008, also estimating the production value for the year to grow 8% to 10% to reach NT$960 billion.
Source: CENS