Exports hit record amid AI demand

MONTHLY HIGH: Shipments have risen for 35 straight months, extending Taiwan’s longest uninterrupted growth streak, despite trade policies and geopolitical risks

• By Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter

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Taiwan’s exports rose to a record last month as booming demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers and other high-tech products powered shipments, putting the economy on track for another year of exceptionally strong trade growth.

Exports jumped 60.9 percent from a year earlier to US$87.22 billion last month, the highest monthly figure on record, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.

Shipments have risen for 35 straight months, extending Taiwan’s longest uninterrupted growth streak.

A crane moves a shipping container at the Port of Kaohsiung yesterday.

Photo: CNA

The latest surge was led by AI-related products, with demand offsetting uncertainty over global trade policy and geopolitical tensions, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) said.

Exports of information, communications and audio-video products more than doubled from a year earlier, with shipments of graphics cards, servers, storage devices, switches and routers all posting triple-digit growth, the ministry said.

Electronic components were also a major source of momentum, rising 45.3 percent as AI applications and preparations for new consumer electronics products boosted demand, it said.

Third-quarter exports surged 44.6 percent year-on-year to US$244.92 billion, exceeding the government’s August forecast and suggesting room for an upward revision to its 11.05 percent GDP growth forecast for this year.

“The growth momentum is expected to continue in October,” Tsai said, adding that exports are expected to rise to 40 to 44 percent from a year earlier, potentially reaching another record.

Shipments of non-tech products also improved, although textile products bucked the trend, ministry data showed.

The US and Southeast Asia were the biggest contributors to last month’s export growth, with shipments to the US more than doubling, while exports to Southeast Asia jumped 93.4 percent from a year earlier.

The markets accounted for about 70 percent of the increase in total exports as global supply chains continued to realign, Tsai said.

Shipments to China, including Hong Kong, as well as Europe and Japan also posted double-digit gains.

Imports rose 51.7 percent to a record US$63.59 billion last month, leaving Taiwan with a monthly trade surplus of US$23.63 billion, also an all-time high, the data showed.

The outlook for exports remains strong for this quarter as cloud-service providers and governments accelerate investment in AI infrastructure, which is supporting demand for semiconductors, servers and related components, Tsai said.

The year-end shopping season in China, Europe and the US should provide an additional boost, she said.

Still, shifts in global trade policy and geopolitical tensions remain key risks to the outlook, Tsai added.

In the first nine months of this year, exports soared 46.2 percent from the same period last year to US$661.55 billion, topping the full-year figure of US$640.69 billion last year.

Imports rose 41.3 percent to about US$501 billion over the same period, the data showed.