Taiwan export orders fall 5.5% in April as COVID lockdowns hit electronics

TAIPEI Reuters - Taiwan's export orders fell for the first time in 25 months in April, taking a larger than expected hit from COVID lockdowns in China and broader global supply chain disruptions.

Export orders fell 5.5% from a year ago to $51.9bn last month, according to data from the Ministry of Economic Affairs on Friday.

The decline was the first in more than two years since the COVID 19 epidemic began sweeping the world in 2020, and up-ended analysts' forecasts for 8.3% growth.

The ministry said that orders for telecommunications products fell 21.5% on the year due to government measures to control the spread of COVID 19 in China.

The ministry said that orders for electronic products went up 4.3%, with China's lockdowns deepening the supply and demand imbalance.

Growth has been supported in the past two years due to the booming tech demand, fueled by the work and study from home trend during the COVID pandemic, as well as a global semiconductor shortage that has filled Taiwanese chip makers' order books.

The ministry expects to have export orders in May in a range of 1.1% and an expansion of 1.7% from a year earlier in the year.

Export orders went up 16.8% from a year ago to $62.69 billion, the highest figure for the month on record in March.

Orders from China fell 16.9% in April, compared with an increase of 9.1% a year ago, while orders from the United States dropped 0.2% from a year earlier in the month, compared to 18.9% growth in March.

Orders from Europe fell by 17%, compared with a growth of 20.1% in March, while those from Japan fell 11.3%.

In April and May, dozens of cities in China were in full or partial COVID lockdowns, slashing demand and paralysing supply chains. Xinjiang is just beginning to relax restrictions and analysts warn it could take weeks or months for conditions to stabilise.

Half of Taiwanese companies that had previously suspended work in China due to COVID 19 control measures have resumed production as curbs are loosened, the island's economy minister said on Thursday.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd TSMC are major suppliers to Apple, Qualcomm, and other global tech firms.