A Report for Current Status of Taiwanese Machinery Industry in October 2009
By C.C. Wang
President, TAMI
From January to October 2009, the export of Taiwanese machinery showed a 36.1% decrease, and the export to China dropped by 37.9%. The imports decreased by 27.8%. The figures indicated the high-tech industry’s demand to imported equipment is decreasing.
1. Taiwanese Machinery Exports Categorized by Products
According to customs statistics in October 2009, the export value of Taiwanese-made machinery amounted to US$ 9.1 billion, which showed a decrease of 36.1% over last year.
Following is the ranking of the major exported products. Machine tools ranked first with the export amount of US$ 1.46 billion and dropped by 56.5%. Plastic and rubber machinery ranked second with the amount of US$ 601 million and dropped by 35.7% over the previous year. Special purpose machines were third, whose export amounting to US$ 587 million with a 46.4% decrease. Refer to table 1 for details.
2. Taiwanese Machinery Exports Categorized by Countries
In October 2009, the export value of Taiwanese-made machinery to China and Hong Kong ranked first with the amount of US$ 2.47 billion, sharing 27.1% of the total exports, indicating a 37.9% negative growth comparing with the same period in the last year. The US ranked second with the amount of US$ 1.56 billion and the share of 17.1%.This indicated a cut-down of 28.9%. Japan ranked third with the amount of US$ 512 million. This share 6.7% of the total export value and indicated a decrease of 27.5% compared to last year. Refer to Table 2 for details.
3. Taiwanese Machinery Imports Categorized by Products
According to customs statistics in October 2009, the import value of machinery reached US$ 11.67 billion. This number showed a 27.8% 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$ 1 billion, sharing 8.7% of the total value and decreased by 77.4%. Engine and parts ranked second with an import amount of US$ 607 million which shared 5.2% of the total and decreased by 13.2%. Following were fluid machines, ranking third with the import amount of US$ 566 million, 4.9% share of the total and a 37.6% negative growth. Refer to Table 3 for details.
4. Taiwanese Machinery Imports Categorized by Countries
According to customs statistics in October 2009, Japan, the US, China and Germany were the major sources of machinery imported into Taiwan. Japan ranked first with the import value of US$ 4.78 billion which was 41.0% of the total import value and indicated a 30.4% decrease. The US ranked second with the imported amount of US$ 2.27 billion and 19.5% share of the total. This indicated a 33.4% decrease. China ranked third with imported value of US$ 1.23 billion. This shared 10.6% of the total import amount and showed a 23.1% slide. Refer to Table 4 for details.
