TAIPEI- Taiwan’s exports likely rose for the 23rd straight month in May but more slowly than in April, hit by pandemic-control lockdowns in China and effects of the war in Ukraine, a Reuters poll showed.
Taiwan, a global hub for chip production and a key supplier to Apple Inc, is one of Asia’s major exporters of technology goods, so the trade data is seen as an important gauge of world demand for tech gadgets.
Exports last month were estimated to have risen 13 percent from a year earlier, a Reuters poll of 17 analysts showed, slower than the 18.8 percent jump in April.
The export forecasts ranged between rises of 5 percent and 20 percent, reflecting uncertainties over the global economic recovery and supply chain disruptions caused by COVID-19 lockdowns in eastern China and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Separately, the consumer price index was expected to have risen 3.3 percent from a year earlier, a slightly slower rate from an increase of 3.38 percent in the 12 months to April.
The inflation data will be released on Tuesday and trade data will come on Wednesday.
Taiwan’s exports rose for a 22nd straight month in April, and the government said the outlook was strong due to sustained demand for chips while also warning of uncertainties cast by the war in Ukraine and China’s COVID lockdowns.
Exports rose 18.8 percent in April from a year earlier to $41.46 billion, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday. Although the rise was less than the 21.3 percent jump posted in March, it was still the third highest monthly figure on record.
And it beat the forecast from a Reuters survey of analysts for a 16.05 percent rise for the month.