Taiwan's finance ministry said September exports rose 60.9 percent to a record 87.22 billion dollars, led by AI-related electronics, with shipments to the United States more than doubling.
Taiwan's exports rose 60.9 percent from a year earlier in September to 87.22 billion dollars, a second straight monthly record, the finance ministry said on Thursday. The result beat a forecast for a 45.65 percent increase and followed August's 82.4 billion dollars and 41.0 percent gain. It was the 35th consecutive year-on-year rise.
Exports to the United States jumped 106.2 percent to 27.461 billion dollars. Exports to China rose 30.2 percent. Electronic components rose 45.3 percent to 31.131 billion dollars, and information products jumped 103 percent. Imports rose 51.7 percent to 63.59 billion dollars, above a forecast of 43.2 percent.
Reuters said the ministry linked the result to demand for AI chips and technology, including high-performance computing and cloud services. The growth came despite concerns about AI safety, inflation and higher energy costs tied to the war between the United States and Iran.
The surplus implied by the published totals is about 23.6 billion dollars. The ministry figures are the official monthly trade release. They are not a forecast for October.
Taiwan is not in this brief's country list. The release is filed as World because the statistic is the island's own trade report, with the United States the largest destination in the month.