A Report for Current Status of Taiwanese Machinery Industry in May 2009
By Mr. C. C. Wang
Vice President, TAMI
From January to May 2009, the export of Taiwanese machinery showed a 38.2% decrease, and the export to China dropped by 48.6%. The imports decreased by 43.0%. The figures indicated weak intentions for investment.
1. Taiwanese Machinery Exports Categorized by Product
According to customs statistics, in May 2009, the export value of Taiwanese-made machinery amounted to US$ 4.3 billion, which showed a decrease of 38.2% over last year.
Following is the ranking of the major exported products. Machine tools ranked first with the export amount of US$ 710 million and dropped by 54.8 %. Plastic and rubber machinery was second, whose export amounting to US$ 269 million with a 38.8% decrease. Valves ranked third with the export amount of US$ 265 million with a decrease of 31.6% when comparing with the same period in last year. Refer to table 1 for details.
2. Taiwanese Machinery Exports Categorized by Countries
In May 2009, the export value of Taiwanese-made machinery to China and Hong Kong ranked first with the amount of US$ 1 billion 28 million, sharing 23.8% of the total exports, indicating a 48.6% negative growth comparing with the same period in the last year. The US ranked second with the amount of US$ 814 million and the share of 18.8%. This indicated a cut-down of 21.0%. Japan ranked third with the amount of US$ 341 million. This shared 7.9% of the total export value and indicated a decrease of 17.2% compared to last year. Refer to Table 2 for details.
3. Taiwanese Machinery Imports Categorized by Products
According to customs statistics in May 2009, the import value of machinery reached US$ 4 billion 773 million. This number showed a 43.0% decrease.
Major imported machinery is ranked as following: Special-purpose machines, mainly applied in high-tech industries such as semi-conductor and 3C, ranked first with US$ 567 million, sharing 11.9% of the total value and decreased by 77.4%. Engine and parts ranked second with an import amount of US$ 269 million which shared 5.6% of the total and decreased by 23.8%. Following were fluid machines, ranking third with the import amount of US$ 254 million, 5.3% share of the total and a 42.7% negative growth. Refer to Table 3 for details.
4. Taiwanese Machinery Imports Categorized by Countries
According to customs statistics in May 2009, Japan and the US China and Germany were the major sources of machinery imported into Taiwan. Japan ranked first with the import value of US$ 2.3 billion which was 48.9% of the total import value and indicated a 35.2% decrease. The US ranked second with the imported amount of US$ 651 million and 13.6% share of the total. This indicated a 65.5% decrease. China ranked third with the imported value of US$ 512 million. This shared 10.7% of the total import amount and showed a 34.7% slide. Refer to Table 4 for details.
