Taiwan's Ministry of Finance said that exports stood at USD 23.95 billion in December 2011, a growth of just 0.6% YoY, the lowest year on year growth since November 2009.
Compared to November 2011, the figure was a decline of 2.9% MoM. As for imports, they stood at USD 21.63 billion, a rise of 0.7% MoM from November and a decline of 2.7% YoY as compared to December 2010.
On the positive side, the figures translated into a trade surplus of USD 2.32 billion in December, a growth of 46% YoY. For the whole 2011, exports totaled USD 308.3 billion, a rise of 12.3% YoY from 2010. Imports hit USD 28.161 billion, a rise of 12.1% YoY. Surplus for 2011 was USD 26.69 billion, the third highest ever.
According to MOF figures, exports peaked in March, April and May 2011. February 2011 saw the lowest exports figure of USD 21.23 billion, due to the Chinese New Year holiday.
Mr Lin Li chen statistician with the MOF said that "In general, exports were better in the first half of 2011. Yet, things took a turn for the worse starting in August 2011, due to the European debt crisis, a slow recovery in the United States, and reduced petrochemical exports due to the public safety incidents at Formosa Petrochemical plants."
Mr Fu Ming tsai, chief analyst with Standard Chartered Bank, had forecasted that December 2011 exports would reach USD 25.4 billion and imports USD 21.6 billion, translating into a surplus of USD 3.8 billion.
As for 2012, Mr Fu predicted that growth in exports and imports would be narrowed to 5% from 2011, due to global economic uncertainties.
Citibank, meanwhile, predicted that 2012 growth in exports would be 4.9% and exports 1.7%.
Mr Cheng Chen mao, chief economist with Citibank, said that "The global economic situation is not so favorable, and future developments in cross strait ties will add uncertainty to economic growth. However, new information technology products will contribute to a positive growth in exports."
The bank predicted exports for the first quarter will grow 2.9%, the lowest for the year. By the fourth quarter exports are expected to grow 6.9%.
(Sourced from www.chinapost.com.tw)
