Weak tech demand shrinks Taiwan export orders
March orders fall at almost twice the 5.45% forecast
Taipei — Taiwan’s export orders fell for the fifth straight month in March, and at a much sharper pace than expected, as the island’s manufacturers kept struggling with a drop in global technology demand. Orders in March fell 9% from a year earlier to $38.59bn, ministry of economic affairs data showed on Monday. For January-March, export orders slid 8.4%, the biggest annual drop for a first quarter since 2009 when they tumbled 30%, the ministry said. March orders fell at almost twice the 5.45% forecast in a Reuters poll, though the pace was less than February’s 10.9%, the sharpest fall in nearly three years. Taiwan’s hi-tech factories are major suppliers for global tech heavyweights such as Apple and Qualcomm, and the continued drop in orders suggests global electronics could remain soft for some time. The ministry said the March shrinkage was also due to declining machinery orders due to business caution in China as the US-Sino trade dispute continues.
However, launches of sm...
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