TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan’s export orders beat expectations in August as demand for chips used in artificial intelligence (AI) applications continued to climb, with the government predicting the strong momentum would extend to the rest of the year.
Export orders rose 9.1 percent to $50.22 billion last month from a year earlier, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said on Tuesday, beating the 8.35 percent forecast in a Reuters poll and surpassing the 4.8 percent growth recorded in July.
Orders for goods from Taiwan, home to tech giants such as chipmaker TSMC, are an indicator of global technology demand.
The growth in orders was driven by “continued demand for AI, edge computing and cloud industries, as well as the preparation of new consumer electronics products,” the ministry said in a statement.
Going forward, the ministry expects the momentum of export orders to continue as new applications such as AI and high-speed computing continue to be deployed and consumer electronics products enter the traditional hot season in the second half of the year, the statement added.
The ministry said it expects export orders in September to increase between 4.7% and 8.6% year-on-year.
In August, orders for telecommunications products in Taiwan increased 16 percent from a year earlier, while orders for electronic products increased 13.2 percent from a year earlier.
Orders from China rose 2.6%, compared with a 0.1% decline the previous month. Orders from the United States rose 11.2%, compared with a 14.3% increase in July.
Orders from Europe rose 8.3% in August after increasing 6.1% in July.
In Japan, orders rose 2.1% last month, compared with a 2.4% increase in July.
(Reporting by Faith Hung and Jeanny Kao; Editing by Jason Neely and Andrew Heavens)