Taiwan's exports of woodworking machines up 18% to US$658 M. in first 11 months of 2004

Taipei, Feb. 3, 2005 (CENS)--Exports of Taiwan-made woodworking machines amounted to US$658.82 million in the first 11 months of 2004, up 18.1% from the corresponding period of 2003, according to statistics compiled by the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI).

TAMI vice president Wang Cheng-ching noted the top export outlets for the locally made woodworking machines in the same 11-month period were North America, mainland China, Southeast Asian, European Union, and Northeast Asia.

The U.S. was the largest export outlet, absorbing US$370 million, up 12.1% year-on-year and accounting for 45.5% of Taiwan's total exports of woodworking machines. Hong Kong and mainland China together ranked second with US$126.03 million, up 19.1% and accounting for 19.1%. Canada stood at the third place with US$39.71 million, up 15.3% and commanding 6%.

Other major export outlets, in descending order, were Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Germany, Thailand, Britain, and Japan.

The top-10 export outlets absorbed 87.8% of Taiwan's total outbound shipments of woodworking machines. TAMI noted the export growth of the products would slow down in the next few months because of the impact of the implementation of the macro-economic-control policy by the mainland in April last year and the slowed global economy.