Taiwan exports contract for fifth straight month, tumbling 21 per cent in January amid weak demand in China, US

Exporters on the Asian island shipped US$31.51 billion worth of goods last month, down a steep 21.2 per cent over January last year

Shipments to mainland China and Hong Kong fell 33.5 per cent, while exports to the US dropped by 14.5 per cent in the first month of 2023

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Taiwan’s exports to mainland China and Hong Kong fell 33.5 per cent in January from a year earlier. Photo: CNA

Published: 7:00pm, 7 Feb 2023Updated: 12:53pm, 8 Feb 2023

Taiwan, a global manufacturing hub for consumer electronics, logged a fifth straight month of declining exports on Tuesday as consumers from mainland China to the United States spent less during a rocky start to the year.

Exporters on the Asian island shipped US$31.51 billion worth of goods last month, Taiwan’s Ministry of Finance said in a statement on Tuesday. That figure was down by a steep 21.2 per cent over January last year. Exports had fallen 12.1 per cent year on year in December.

Taiwan’s slowing monthly exports since late 2022 have tracked mainland China’s pandemic lockdowns that hurt consumption and stalled assembly of tech hardware originating in Taiwan but bound for re-export

Elsewhere, Europe and the United States have been racked by inflation and fears of an economic slowdown, undermining demand.

“The January export decay is continual momentum from December because the global economy may continue to decline in the first quarter of 2023,” said Hu Jin-li, a professor with the Institute of Business and Management at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University in Taipei.

He pointed to sagging demand for electronics as well as weakness in “traditional” exports such as plastics, rubber and chemicals.

Shipments to mainland China and Hong Kong fell by 33.5 per cent to US$10.44 billion year on year in January, ministry data showed. Hong Kong and the mainland make up Taiwan’s biggest export market. Exports to the US from Taiwan dropped by 14.5 per cent in January.