TAIPEI: Taiwan's export orders in January contracted from a year earlier for a fifth month in a row, though at a slower pace, hit by a continued slump in Chinese demand and weaker global consumer spending due to inflation and interest rate rises.
However, orders for telecoms products rose 9.8 per cent from a year earlier - the strongest rise since last June - thanks to an improving supply chain situation in China, the ministry said. While semiconductor demand driven by new technologies would help orders in the traditional low season in the first quarter,"the downside risks of the global economy are still high, which may affect the performance of export orders", the ministry said.
Taiwan's January orders from China were 45.9 per cent lower than a year earlier, versus the annual fall of 37.7 per cent seen in December.