Export orders received by Taiwan’s manufacturers and traders dropped, for the sixth consecutive month, by 1.5% year on year (YoY) to US$36.15 billion, the smallest decline seen so far this year mainly thanks to surging orders from China and southeast Asia, according to the latest statistics compiled by Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).

Lin Lee-jen, director of MOEA’s statistics department, indicated that decline in Taiwan’s export orders over the past months has steadily diminished month by month and is likely to be reversed in September, when seasonal booms hit Taiwan’s industries.

Separately, Lin said, Taiwan’s ICT (information and communication technology) industry received US$8.56 billion worth of export orders in August, 8.5% less than a year ago, while industries of electronic products and precision instruments landed orders valued at US$8.61 billion and US$3.37 billion, respectively, up 0.4% and 5.9% YoY.

China (including Hong Kong) remained the biggest buyer of Taiwan’s products, which placed orders worth US$9.86 billion with different industries on the island in August, up 2.5% from a year earlier. Electronics, precision instruments and chemical products, among others, were the most popular items ordered by China.

Meanwhile, Lin pointed out that exports orders from the six ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) member nations, namely the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia, amounted to US$4.12 billion, 12.2% more than a year ago, with the growth mainly led by those for petroleum products.

However, orders received from the U.S., Europe and Japan all shrank in value in the month, which totaled US$8.22 billion, US$5.94 billion and US$3.5 billion, respectively, 1.8%, 8.4% and 5.6% less than last August. Noteworthy is that exports orders from Japan have declined since May, 2011.