Sometimes - usually on a Monday during the middle of the month - things get quiet in the economic-data world. Today's one of those days. The only economy reporting any significant data was Taiwan, which reported August's export orders up 13.6% yoy and foreign direct investment into Taiwan up 12.3% during Jan-August.
Export demand is concentrated in Taiwan's electronics sector, but offsetting that sectoral concentration is the the fact that demand for Taiwan's electronics is growing almost everywhere. Electronics orders are up 28.2% yoy, and infocomms equipt up 26.4% yoy, and those two sectors account for 53% of orders. But look at the spread of orders: US up 19.5% yoy, China & HK up 21%, Europe up 21.2%, and even Asean up 5.5%. The only place not building orders with Taiwan is Japan, down 9.6% yoy.
Then there's Taiwan's FEI numbers - which showed inward FDI rising 12.3% in the first 8 months, with investment from the mainland up 54.2% and from the rest of the world up 11.6%. Meanwhile, Taiwan's outward FDI is growing faster - up 43.2% ytd, with investment in the mainland up 49.5% and in the rest of the world up 39.5%.
Conclusion? Despite the stresses between China and Taiwan and the rest of the world, Taiwan's commercial ties with the mainland continue to deepen unabated.
