A Report for the Current Status of Taiwanese Machine Tools Industry in December 2008
By Mr. C. C. Wang
Vice President, TAMI
The exports in December 2008 grew 5.9% over last year; the imports decreased 39.9% 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 December 2008, the total export value of Taiwan machine tools reached US$ 3.7 billion reflecting a 5.9% growth compared to last year. The export is increasing steady. Among which cutting tools shared US$ 2.96 billion with growth of 7.4% comparing with the same period in last year. Forming machine tools shared US$ 757 million with a growth of 0.5%.
(1) Exports Categorized by Products
To categorize by products among machine tools, machining centers grew 3.9%, lathes by 22.5%, grinding machine decreased by 4.1% and milling machine increased by 1.1%. Among forming machine tools, forging and punch presses decreased by 1.7%, and other forming machine tools grew by 10.6% 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$ 1.1 billion, sharing 30.0% of the total export value and showing a negative 14.2% growth. The US ranked second with an amount of US$ 339 million, sharing 9.1% of the total export value and showing a 0.9% decreased. Germany ranked third with the amount of US$ 224 million, sharing 6.0% of the total and had 45.2% growth comparing to the same period in last year. Refer to Table 2 for details.
2. Imports of Taiwan Machine Tools
According to Customs statistics form January to December 2008, the import value of Taiwan machine tools amounted to US$ 1.5 billion, which was 39.9% less than the last year. Among which cutting machine tools amounted to US$ 1.4 billion which decreased by 42.0% compared to the previous year. Forming machine tool shared US$ 108 million which had a growth of 11.2%.
(1) Imports Categorized by Products
From January to December 2008, the major imported machine tools were unconventional machine tools which dropped by 48.4% over the last year. Among which machining centers had a growth of 15.5%; lathes decreased by 14.2%; boring and milling machines decreased by 2.2% and grinding machine increased by 8.1%. As for the imports of forming machine tools, forging and punch presses increased by 17.9%, and other forming machines decreased by 15.6%. Refer to Table 3 for details.
(2) Imports Categorized by Countries
To rank the countries from which Taiwan imported machine tools from January to December 2008, Japan was the first with an amount of US$ 931 million, sharing 60.6% of the total import value and reflecting a 20.0% drop. The US ranked second with an amount of US$ 300 million, sharing 19.5% of the total import value. This reflected a 69.8% negative growth. Germany ranked third with an amount of US% 102 million, sharing 6.6% of the total and grew by 43.5%. Refer to Table 4 for details.
