A Report for Current Status of Taiwanese Machine Tools Industry in February 2010
By C.C. Wang
President, TAMI
The exports from January to February 2010 increased by 10.8% over last year; the imports increased 44.5%. High-tech industry’s demands to equipment rocketed.
1. Exports of Taiwan Machine Tools
Based on the customs statistics in February 2009, the total export value of Taiwan machine tools reached US$ 312 million reflecting a 10.8% growth compared to last year. The export is gradually growing. Among which cutting tools shared US$ 242 million with a increase of 13.6% comparing with the same period in last year. Forming machine tools shared US$ 70 million with a increased of 2.3%.
(1) Exports Categorized by Products
To categorize by products among machine tools, machining centers increased by 28.0%, lathes by 18.4%; grinding machines by 81.9% and milling and boring machines by 7.1%. Among forming machine tools, forging and punch presses decreased by 8.0%, and other forming machine tools increased by 43.0% 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$ 123 million, sharing 39.4% of the total export value and showing a 71.8% growth. The US ranked second with an amount of US$ 18 million, sharing 5.6% of the total export value and showing a 42.8% decrease. Thailand ranked third with the amount of US$ 16 million, sharing 4.9% of the total and had 36.1% increase comparing to the same period in last year. Refer to Table 2 for details.
2. Imports of Taiwan Machine Tools
According to customs statistics in February 2010, the import value of Taiwan machine tools amounted to US$ 77 million, which was 44.5% more than the last year. Among which cutting machine tools amounted to US$ 68 million which increased by 65.1% compared to the previous year. Forming machine tool shared US$ 9 millions which had a decrease of 24.7%.
(1) Imports of Taiwan Machine Tools
In February 2010, the major imported machine tools were unconventional machine tools which grew by 136% over the last year. Among which, machining centers decreased by 30.6%; lathes increased by 71.6%; boring and milling machines increased by 108% and grinding machines decreased by 37.2%. As for the imports of forming machine tools, forging and punch presses decreased by 13.6% and other forming machines decreased by 64.3%. Refer to Table 3 for details.
(2) Imports Categorized by Countries
To rank the countries from which Taiwan imported machine tools in February 2010, Japan was the first with an amount of US$ 48 million, sharing 61.9% of the total import value and reflecting a 133% increase. The U.S. ranked second with an amount of US$ 6 million, sharing 7.2% of the total import value. This reflected a 3.0% negative growth. Germany ranked third with an amount of US$ 5 million, sharing 5.9% of the total and decreased by 54.7%. Refer to Table 4 for details.
