A Report for Current Status of Taiwanese Machine Tools Industry in 2009
By C.C. Wang
President, TAMI
The exports in 2009 decreased by 53.2% over last year; the imports decreased 77.8%. High-tech industry’s demands to equipment dropped steeply.
1. Exports of Taiwan Machine Tools
Based on the customs statistics in 2009, the total export value of Taiwan machine tools reached US$ 1.7 billion reflecting a 53.2% negative growth compared to last year. The export is decreasing dramatically. Among which cutting tools shared US$ 1.3 billion with a decrease of 55.3% comparing with the same period in last year. Forming machine tools shared US$ 419 million with a decrease of 44.6%.
(1) Exports Categorized by Products
To categorize by products among machine tools, machining centers decreased by 60.7%, lathes by 54.6%; grinding machines by 54.3% and milling and boring machines by 46.6%. Among forming machine tools forging and punch presses decreased by 47.3%, and other forming machine tools decreased by 33.5% 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$ 651 million, sharing 37.4% of the total export value and showing a 41.6% negative growth. The US ranked second with an amount of US$ 125 million, sharing 7.2% of the total export value and showing a 63.1% decrease. Germany ranked third with the amount of US$ 76 million, sharing 4.3% of the total and had 66.3% downturn 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 2009, the import value of Taiwan machine tools amounted to US$ 341 million, which was 77.8% less than the last year. Among which cutting machine tools amounted to US$ 273 million which decreased by 80.9% compared to the previous year. Forming machine tool shared US$ 68 millions which had a decrease of 36.8%.
(1) Imports of Taiwan Machine Tools
In 2009, the major imported machine tools were unconventional machine tools which dropped by 90.6% over the last year. Among which, machining centers decreased by 57.1%; lathes decreased by 49.1%; boring and milling machines increased by 56.2% and grinding machines decreased by 42.0%. As for the imports of forming machine tools, forging and punch presses decreased by 35.6% and other forming machines increased by 43.3%. Refer to Table 3 for details.
(2) Imports Categorized by Countries
To rank the countries from which Taiwan imported machine tools in 2009, Japan was the first with an amount of US$ 167 million, sharing 49.0% of the total import value and reflecting and 82.1% drop. Germany ranked second with an amount of US$ 46 million, sharing 13.6% of the total import value. This reflected a 54.4% negative growth. China and Hong Kong ranked third with an amount of US$ 24 million, sharing 7.2% of the total and increased by 40.7%. Refer to Table 4 for details.
