Taipei: Export orders rise 12.5% to 5-month high

Export orders last month rose 12.5 percent from a year earlier to US$5.88 billion, reaching a five-month high, while also increasing 12.1 percent to US$149.47 billion in the first quarter from a year earlier, the Ministry of Economic Affairs reported yesterday.

On a monthly basis, export orders last month increased 7.3 percent, which the ministry attributed to increases in orders for information and communications technology (ICT), and electronic and optoelectronic products, despite declines in orders of base metal, plastic, rubber and chemical products.