Taiwan September export orders sharply beats forecasts on strong AI demand

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By Faith Hung and Emily Chan

TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan’s export orders rose more than expected in September, increasing for an eighth consecutive month, as the island’s growth as an essential hub for the artificial intelligence (AI) industry offset worries about U.S. tariffs.

Export orders in September rose 30.5% from a year earlier to $70.22 billion, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said on Tuesday, far surpassing analysts’ expectations for a 17.8% increase.

Orders for goods from Taiwan, home of the world’s largest contract chipmaker TSMC and other tech companies, are considered a bellwether of global technology demand.

A general tariff rate of 20% has been imposed on Taiwan’s exports by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration. Taiwan’s government has said the 20% tariff is “temporary” as it continues to negotiate with the U.S. for more favourable rates.

Uncertainties such as global trade policy and geopolitical risks continue to weigh on global trade momentum, the ministry said in a statement.

But the momentum for orders will be supported as new applications such as AI and high-performance computing continue to expand, while the fourth-quarter is typically the high season ahead of the year-end holidays in western markets, it said.

The total value for full-year orders would likely hit a record, the ministry said.

For October, the ministry said it expected export orders to rise between 23.7% and 27.3% from a year ago.

Taiwan’s orders in September for telecoms products were up 33.1% from a year earlier, while those for electronic products jumped 45.9%.

Overall orders from China were up 11.6%, versus a 0.7% dip in August.

Orders from the United States climbed 40.2%, compared with a rise of 33.6% the month before.

Orders from Europe were up 16.9%, and those from Japan rose 22.8%.

(Reporting by Faith Hung and Emily Chan; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)