AI Drives 51.7% YoY Export Growth in May; Electronic Component Exports Hit Record High

(Central News Agency, Taipei, June 9th, Reporter Lu Yan-ci) The Ministry of Finance announced today that May exports grew 51.7% year-on-year, driven by three major factors: the global boom in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure construction, the replenishment cycle for technology product upgrades, and rising raw material prices. Notably, electronic component exports hit a new single-month high, while information, communication, and audio-visual products also recorded their second-highest monthly figure ever.

According to the preliminary customs trade statistics for May released by the Ministry of Finance today, exports reached USD 78.48 billion and imports reached USD 60.57 billion, marking the second-highest single-month figure and a new all-time high, respectively. The year-on-year growth rates were 51.7% and 54.9%. The trade surplus for May stood at USD 17.91 billion, an increase of USD 5.28 billion compared to the same period last year.

Tsai Mei-na, Director of the Department of Statistics at the Ministry of Finance, stated that exports in May were operating at full capacity, attributable to three reasons. First, the global AI infrastructure boom continues to drive demand for advanced chips, servers, and related components. Second, the pre-upgrade replenishment cycles for technology products have begun. Third, bottlenecks in the electronics supply chain and rising international raw material prices have led to price increases for export products.

She added that the export price increase from January to May this year was the largest for the same period in nearly 40 years. Looking at the total export growth in May, excluding price factors, the real increase rate was approximately 33.6%. This means that price increases contributed 35% to total export growth, while volume factors contributed 65%.

Examining the 11 major export categories in May, nine saw growth and two declined. Director Tsai noted that electronic components and information/communication/audio-visual products continued to be the main drivers, and the divergence between product categories has improved. Exports of information, communication, and audio-visual products reached USD 34.84 billion, the second-highest monthly figure ever, up 75.2% year-on-year. Electronic component exports reached USD 26.84 billion, a new single-month record, up 56% year-on-year, marking the largest increase (excluding February, the Lunar New Year month) in 16 years.

Director Tsai pointed out that the combined export value of information/communication/audio-visual products and electronic components reached USD 61.68 billion, a year-on-year increase of 66.3%, contributing 47.5 percentage points to total export growth, demonstrating absolute dominance. Meanwhile, other traditional industrial products also showed signs of recovery, with an average year-on-year increase of 17.4%, the best performance in four and a half years (excluding the Lunar New Year month).

According to statistics, exports of electrical machinery products in May were USD 1.82 billion, and machinery exports were USD 2.8 billion, recording the second-highest and highest monthly figures ever, with year-on-year growth rates of 33.4% and 22.7%, respectively. Director Tsai explained that this mainly reflects the spillover benefits of the AI boom, strong demand for semiconductor laboratory equipment, and infrastructure construction and grid upgrades in major countries.

Regarding mineral products, due to the surge in international oil prices and a low base last year, May exports reached USD 1.58 billion, up 72.4% year-on-year. Exports of plastics and rubber products were USD 1.77 billion in May, up 5.9% year-on-year, mainly driven by rising raw material prices. Exports of transportation equipment fell 3.2% year-on-year to USD 910 million in May, due to a decline in bicycle parts shipped to Europe and passenger cars shipped to the Middle East. (Editor: Yang Lan-xuan) 1150609