Fall in demand hits Taiwan export orders

By Tim Culpan  |   2008-11-25  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

TAIWAN'S export orders fell for the first time in six years in October as the global economic slowdown cut demand for computer chips, laptops and phones.

Orders, an indication of shipments in the next one to three months, declined 5.56 percent from a year earlier after rising 2.82 percent in September, the island's economic affairs agency said yesterday.

The drop was bigger than the 3.03-percent median forecast of 11 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.

Taiwan's economy will follow Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore into recession this quarter after shrinking in the three months to the end of September, the government said last week. Taiwan yesterday approved two bills allowing US$14.4 billion of spending, including a giveaway of shopping vouchers, to spur growth.

"Weaker orders bode ill for year-end festive-season demand, especially for electronics," Tony Phoo, an economist at Standard Chartered Bank in Taipei, said. "The stimulus package approved is a short-term measure that will help cushion the cyclical downturn."

The decline in orders was the biggest since December 2001.

Orders from China's mainland and Hong Kong, which account for about a third of exports, fell 22.84 percent from a year earlier.