Taiwan Dec exports beat forecasts as demand from US surges, slips from China

By Liang-sa Loh and Faith Hung

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan's exports rose more than expected in December on stronger demand for high-tech products from the United States, but the recovery is expected to slow as the traditional peak year-end shopping season ends.

Exports rose 11.8% in value from a year earlier to $39.94 billion, the finance ministry said on Tuesday, compared with a 4.9% growth forecast in a Reuters poll, and a 3.8% gain in November.

The government had expected exports, a main driver of the island's economy, would return to growth by November, fueled by rising demand for artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, data centres, and automotive electronics.

"There is indeed some uncertainty of war for Taiwan's economy this year. But people in the industry tell us that because of the coming of AI, and demand for related products such as servers and chips is strong, which is a boom we can look forward to," economy minister Wang Mei-Hua told reporters earlier on Tuesday.

For January, the ministry forecast exports would rise between 20% and 24% from a year ago, mostly attributable to the Lunar New Year holidays falling later in the calendar, resulting in more working days this month than last year.

Weak global demand has prompted the Taiwan government to cut its 2023 economic growth forecast to 1.42%, the slowest pace in 14 years.

In December, Taiwan's total shipments of electronic components fell 1.2% from the year ago period to $15.9 billion, with semiconductor exports down -0.8%.

Taiwanese firms such as <TSMC 2330.TW>,, the world's largest contract chipmaker, are major suppliers to Apple Inc, Nvidia and other global tech giants, while providing chips for auto companies and lower-end consumer goods.

Exports to the United States soared 49.7%, versus 33.1% growth in November.

China remained a major weak spot, however, as its economy struggles to gain traction. Taiwan's exports to China fell 6.4% in December from a year earlier to $13.4 billion, after the prior month's drop of 6.3%.

Taiwan's imports, often seen as a leading indicator of re-exports of finished products, slid 6.5% to $28.84 billion in December. That compared with economists' forecasts for a 7.3% fall.

(Reporting by Liang-sa Loh and Faith Hung; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Kim Coghill)