Taiwan September exports jumps 10.4%

The big leap from -4.2% August growth was led by robust demand from China, ASEAN and Japan.

According to DBS, exports reported a surprisingly strong growth of 10.4% YoY in September (5.0% MoM sa), a big jump from -4.2% in August. Trade surplus was also boosted to USD 4.1bn, the largest monthly surplus so far this year.

Here's more from DBS:

Despite the strong trade numbers, it is too early to conclude that the improvement in exports is sustainable and a recovery in macroeconomic conditions is kicking in.

The rise in September exports was led by demand from China (including HK, 8.4% MoM), ASEAN (16.8%) and Japan (22.7%). The increase in Chinese demand was seen in both consumer goods and capital goods – electronics (11.3% MoM), optical instruments (11.3%), chemicals (19.0%) and minerals.

This should be in part due to the modest improvement in China’s domestic demand on the back of policy stimulus measures. The temporary factors could have also been at play, such as the launch of new smartphone products that coincided with China’s golden week holiday this year.

Meanwhile, as a result of the ongoing China-Japan political tensions, Chinese manufacturing firms may temporarily switch their import orders from Japan to the alternative suppliers in the region, which could benefit Taiwanese exporters of electronics components.