© Reuters FILE PHOTO: Trucks work at a loading yard in Keelung, Taiwan, January 7, 2022. REUTERS/An Wang/File Photo
TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan’s export orders likely contracted for a second straight month in August, and as global demand cooled at the same pace as last month, a Reuters poll showed on Monday.
The average forecast of a poll of 13 economists was for export orders to fall 2 percent from a year ago. Forecasts ranged from 3.4% expansion to 3.7% contraction.
The island’s export orders, a bellwether of global demand for technology, unexpectedly fell in July. Orders fell 1.9% to $54.26 billion from a year earlier, a bigger-than-expected hit from weaker-than-expected demand for technology and economic problems in its biggest market, China.
The government last month forecast orders to fall between 0.9% and 3.7% from August 2021.
Taiwan’s export orders are a leading indicator of demand for hi-tech gadgets and Asian exports and typically lead actual exports by two to three months.
The island’s manufacturers are a key part of the global supply chain for tech giants including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, and Apple Inc (NASDAQ: ).
The August data will be released on Tuesday.
(Poll compiled by Anant Chandak, Devayani Satyan and Carol Lee; Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)