Taipei: Taiwan's export orders in May reached a record high for the month, driven by continuously expanding global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, said the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) on Friday. Export orders saw a year-on-year growth of 18.5 percent at US$57.93 billion, marking the fourth consecutive month of annual growth.
According to Focus Taiwan, AI and cloud industry demands drove orders for information and communication products-including servers, networking devices, and display cards-to a total of US$18.2 billion. This figure marks a record high for the month and represents a year-on-year growth of 29.5 percent. Orders for electronic products such as semiconductors and printed circuit boards were pushed up to US$21.57 billion by AI and high-performance computing demands, also a record high, marking an increase of 27.7 percent from last year.
However, orders in traditional industries such as chemical products and rubber or plastics decreased by 17.4 percent and 14.3 percent from the previous year, respectively. Huang Wei-, acting head of the MOEA's Department of Statistics, explained that China's sluggish recovery and overcapacity in traditional industries have led to product dumping in other countries, eroding orders for Taiwanese firms.
Looking ahead, a survey on export order sentiment indicated that orders are expected to decline in June. Huang noted that companies in traditional industries, electronics, and information and communication sectors have reported a slowdown in advance orders. Server manufacturers also expect a decline in June orders due to the usual transition between old and new product lines during that period.
Consumer products have seen orders placed in advance, with inventory for sales events in the second half of the year being stocked. With the 90-day suspension of "reciprocal tariffs" set to end on July 9, Huang acknowledged that uncertainty looms in the second half of the year due to unclear U.S. tariff policies. These uncertainties could impact investment and consumption, with both the Central Bank and the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics forecasting weaker economic conditions in the latter half of the year.
Meanwhile, total export orders for the first five months of 2025 stood at US$263.8 billion, equivalent to 15 percent growth from the same period last year, according to MOEA data.