Published on ShanghaiDaily.com (http://www.shanghaidaily.com/)
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2008/200812/20081224/article_385635.htm
Record fall in Taiwan's exports
Created: 2008-12-24
Author:Janet Ong
TAIWAN'S export orders and industrial production fell by record numbers in November as the economic slowdown in China's mainland and the United States cut demand for computer chips, laptops and telephones.
Orders, an indication of shipments in the next one to three months, sank by an unprecedented 28.51 percent from a year earlier, its economic affairs agency said yesterday.
Industrial production fell 28.35 percent in November from a year earlier, also the biggest drop to date, the ministry said.
Taiwan will probably follow the economies of Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong into a recession this quarter after shrinking in the three months to the end of September, Bloomberg News said.
The island's government this month approved US$14.4 billion of spending, including a giveaway of shopping vouchers, to spur growth.
Before the report was released, the island's currency fell for a third day against the dollar, losing 0.5 percent to NT$33.085 (US$1). The Taiex stock index declined 2.9 percent.
Orders from China's mainland and Hong Kong tumbled 45.38 percent from a year earlier, after sliding 22.84 percent in October.
Orders from the US, Taiwan's second-largest market, declined 29.29 percent in November.
Many Taiwanese electronics makers send parts to China's mainland that are re-exported as finished products to other markets.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, the world's largest custom-chipmaker, and rival United Microelectronics Corp earlier this month cut their forecasts for fourth-quarter sales after shipments fell amid the global recession.
Orders, an indication of shipments in the next one to three months, sank by an unprecedented 28.51 percent from a year earlier, its economic affairs agency said yesterday.
Industrial production fell 28.35 percent in November from a year earlier, also the biggest drop to date, the ministry said.
Taiwan will probably follow the economies of Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong into a recession this quarter after shrinking in the three months to the end of September, Bloomberg News said.
The island's government this month approved US$14.4 billion of spending, including a giveaway of shopping vouchers, to spur growth.
Before the report was released, the island's currency fell for a third day against the dollar, losing 0.5 percent to NT$33.085 (US$1). The Taiex stock index declined 2.9 percent.
Orders from China's mainland and Hong Kong tumbled 45.38 percent from a year earlier, after sliding 22.84 percent in October.
Orders from the US, Taiwan's second-largest market, declined 29.29 percent in November.
Many Taiwanese electronics makers send parts to China's mainland that are re-exported as finished products to other markets.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, the world's largest custom-chipmaker, and rival United Microelectronics Corp earlier this month cut their forecasts for fourth-quarter sales after shipments fell amid the global recession.
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