Taiwan's exports, imports of plastic and rubber processing up sharply in first 4 months

Taipei, July 26, 2004 (CENS)--Taiwan's exports and imports of plastic and rubber processing machines hit US$283 million and US$233 million, respectively, in the first four months of this year, up 22.1% and 98.5% from the same period of last year, according to statistics compiled by the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI).

In terms of export outlets for Taiwan-made plastic and rubber processing machines, Hong Kong and mainland China together ranked first by absorbing US$127 million, up 5% from the same period of last year and accounting for 44.8% of the island's total exports of such machines. Thailand ranked second with US$33 million, up 135% and accounting for 11.8% of the total, followed by India with US$13 million, up 206% and accounting for 4.6%.

Other major export outlets included Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Japan, Turkey, the United States and Egypt.

In terms of import sources, Japan ranked first by supplying US$174 million, up 153% from the corresponding period of last year and accounting for 74.6% of Taiwan's imports of plastic and rubber processing machines. Germany ranked second with US$16 million , up 46.1% and accounting for 7.1% of the total. Hong Kong and mainland took the third place with US$6.47 million, up 65.9% from the same period of last year and accounting for 2.8% of the total.

Other major import sources included the United States, France, Canada, Switzerland, and Sweden. TAMI attributed the substantial import increase to the booming demand of such domestic high-tech industries as flat-panel display, semiconductor, and opto-electronics which will increasingly procure advanced imported production equipment for the rest of this year.

TAMI's tallies also showed Taiwan exported US$215 million worth of woodworking machines in the first four months of this year, up 19.1% from the corresponding period of last year. The U.S. absorbed US$170 million worth of Taiwan-made woodworking machines in the first four months of this year, up 23.9% from the same period of last year and accounting for 49.8% of the island's total exports of such machines. Hong Kong and mainland ranked second with US$38 million, up 23.2% and accounting for 17.9% of the total exports. Canada ranked third with US$11 million, down 8.1% and accounting for 5.4% of the total. Other major export outlets were Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Germany, Britain, and Japan.

Taiwan also saw imports of woodworking machines increase by 45.8% annually in the first four months of this year to reach US$52 million. Japan was the largest import source of the products by commanding US$44 million, up 88.2% from the same period of last year and accounting for 85.1% of the total imports. Germany ranked second with US$3.46 million, down 18.4% and accounting for 6.6% of the total. Switzerland took the third place with US$1.08 million, down 63.1% from the same period of last year and accounting for 2.1% of the total imports. Other import sources included mainland China, Holland, the U.S., Italy, Britain, and Australia.