A Report for Current Status of Taiwanese Machine Tools Industry in July 2008
By Mr. C. C. Wang
Vice President, TAMI
The exports in July 2008 grew 17.3% over last year; the imports decreased 28.2% which was resulted form the downturn of high-tech industry's demands.
1. Exports of Taiwan Machine Tools
Based on the customs statistics form January to July 2008, the total export value of Taiwan machine tools reached US$ 2.2 billion reflecting a 17.3% growth compared to last year. The export is increasing steady. Among which cutting tools shared US$ 1.8 billion with growth of 19.0% comparing with the same period in last year. Forming machine tools shared US$ 457 million with a growth of 11.2%.
(1) Exports Categorized by Products
To categorize by products among machine tools, machining centers grew 17.2%, lathes by 33.3%, grinding machine by 6.1% and milling machine by 15.9%. Among forming machine tools, forging and punch presses increased by 9.2%, and other forming machine tools grew by 20.2% when comparing with the same period in last year. Refer to Table 1 for details.
(2) Exports Categorized by Countries
To rank by countries, China and Hong Kong were first with an export value of US$ 666 million, sharing 29.7% of the total export value and showing a negative 6.2% growth. The US ranked second with an amount of US$ 204 million, sharing 9.1% of the total export value and showing a 3.7% increase. Germany ranked third with the amount of US$ 126 million, sharing 5.6% of the total and had 72.2% growth comparing to the same period in last year. Following are Turkey, Italy, Holland, Brazil, India and Thailand. Refer to Table 2 for details.
2. Imports of Taiwan Machine Tools
According to Customs statistics form January to July 2008, the import value of Taiwan machine tools amounted to US$ 1.1 billion, which was 28.2% less than the last year. Among which cutting machine tools amounted to US$ 1 billion which decreased by 29.7% compared to the previous year. Forming machine tool shared US$ 62 million which had a growth of 12.2%.
(1) Imports Categorized by Products
From January to July 2008, the major imported machine tools were unconventional machine tools which dropped by 35.2% over the last year. Among which machining centers had a growth of 53%; lathes increased by 0.5%; boring and milling machines increased by 20.3% and grinding machine increased by 19.8%.
As for the imports of forming machine tools, forging and punch presses increased by 36.8%, and other forming machines decreased by 52.9%. The statistics also indicated that the demand for imported equipment from conventional industries such as automotive and metal working continues to grow steady. Refer to Table 3 for details.
(2) Imports Categorized by Countries
To rank the countries from which Taiwan imported machine tools from January to July 2008, Japan was the first with an amount of US$ 688 million, sharing 62.5% of the total import value and reflecting an 11.4% growth. The US ranked second with an amount of US$ 233 million, sharing 21.1% of the total import value. This reflected a 64.6% negative growth. Germany ranked third with an amount of US% 46 million, sharing 4.2% of the total and reduced by 0.5%. Refer to Table 4 for details.
