As
Taiwan is often considered a bellwether of global electronics
demand, the sharp slump adds to worries about a much weaker
second half of the year.
June exports plunged 23.4% in value from a year earlier to
$32.32 billion, the finance ministry said on Friday, the 10th
consecutive month of decline. That was worse than a fall of
14.1% in May and missed a Reuters poll forecast for a 13.35%
contraction.
Taiwan's export-reliant economy will probably grow more slowly
in 2023 than previously forecast, the government has said.
First-quarter GDP fell by a revised 2.87% year-on-year, its
worst performance since 2009 and suggesting the economy has
slipped into recession.
Total shipments of electronic components in June fell 21.3% from
the year before to $13.58 billion, with semiconductor exports
down 20.8%.
The outlook remains grim, the ministry said on Friday, adding
that it expected exports in July to drop between 16% and 19.5%
on-year and forecasting "considerable pressure" on foreign trade
from global interest rate rises to control inflation as well as
broader global economic uncertainties.
The chance that exports will return to growth in September has
"dramatically decreased," the ministry said, adding that would
be more likely to occur in November.
The second half of the year is when orders traditionally pick up
ahead of the busy year-end shopping season.
Taiwanese firms such as TSMC, the world's largest contract
chipmaker, are major suppliers to Apple Inc, Nvidia and other
global tech giants, besides providing chips for auto companies
and lower-end consumer goods.
United Microelectronics Corp, a smaller competitor of TSMC's,
reported on Thursday that June sales dropped 23.2% on the year.
At $11.99 billion in June, Taiwan's exports to China were down
22.2% from a year earlier, after the prior month's drop of
19.4%.
Exports to the United States fell 25.2% in June, after slipping
an annual 3.5% in May.
Taiwan's June imports, often seen as a leading indicator of
re-exports of finished products, dropped 29.9% to $26.36
billion. That compared with economists' forecast of a 16.7% fall
and a 21.7% decline in May.
(Reporting by Roger Tung and Faith Hung; Editing by Ben
Blanchard, Devika Syamnath and Kim Coghill)
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