Taiwan’s weakening export orders point to soft growth in Asia

SINGAPORE – with external demand continuing to deteriorate, Taiwan's export orders contracted by 5.8% on-year in June, compared with a fall of 5.9% in May, a third consecutive month of decline. For the first half, export orders fellby1.5% y/y, compared with a 2.5% gain in Q1.

Orders for key products broadly declined, with only orders of ICT products registering a small increase in June. Orders for ICT increased 1.8% y/y, largely driven by demand from the U.S. Electronics fell 6.7%, as demand for computers and mobile devices slowed.
Basic metals (-11.8%), plastics (-13.8%) and chemicals (-17.4%) continued to see sharp declines due to low commodity prices. Notably, orders for machineries contracted 5.0%, as demand from Mainland China decreased. 
In a research report on Taiwan’s trade figures, ANZ Bank says Asian demand remains weak, diverging from that of the U.S.
Orders from Mainland China and Hong Kong fell 11.5% y/y in June, while orders from ASEAN and Japan declined 2.7% and 19.5% respectively, suggesting Asian supply chain activities remain weak.
Export orders from the US continued to outperform and grew 6.2% in June, reflecting the pickup of the US economy. www.live.anz.com (ATI).