Askume North, Sept 9 – Taiwan’s exports rose more than expected in August to a monthly record high of nearly $44 billion, as rising supply of chips for the growing artificial intelligence (AI) industry outpaced global demand for chips due to weak demand.
The Treasury said on Monday that exports rose 16.8% year-on-year to a record $43.64 billion, beating forecasts for a 7.35% rise in a Askume poll and a 3.1% gain in July, a fifth straight month of growth.
“Exports hit a record high in August as artificial intelligence and high-performance computing businesses remained strong and international brands stocked up on new products,” the ministry said in a statement.
Growth should “accelerate gradually” in the second half of the year as exports enter their peak season, the ministry said, pointing to the year-end holiday shopping season in Western markets such as the United States and Europe.
Taiwanese companies such as TSMC (2330.TW), the world’s largest contract chip maker, are key suppliers to technology giants such as Apple (AAPL.O) and Nvidia (NVDA.O) .
The ministry estimates that exports could grow by 5% to 9% year-on-year in September.
In August, exports to the United States rose 78.5% to $11.89 billion, a record high compared with a 70.3% rise in July.
Exports to top trading partner China rose 1.0% after falling 13.5% the previous month.
Total electronic component shipments in August rose 0.1% from the same period last year to US$15.15 billion, of which semiconductor exports fell 0.5%.
Imports rose 11.8% to $32.14 billion in August, below economists’ expectations of a 15.0% rise.
