Taipei, March 20 (CNA)
The value of Taiwan's export orders in February surpassed US$30 billion this year for the first time, boosted by strong demand for laptops, smartphones, and tablets, according to government figures released Tuesday.

Export orders, an indication of shipments in the next one to three months, totaled US$33.95 billion in February, up 17.6 percent year-on-year, Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) statistics showed.

Compared with the previous month, the value also showed an increase, rising 7.84 percent or US$2.47 billion, the figures showed.

The increase was affected by a lower calculation base as last Lunar New Year fell in February, which meant fewer working days, said MOEA Deputy Director Beatrice Tsai.

The statistics showed that "export orders from Taiwan have been stable and steady," Tsai said.

In terms of product breakdown, orders for information and communications products such as handsets and notebooks in February posted the biggest increase, with a year-on-year growth of 20.09 percent to US$8.09 billion, the statistics showed.

Although export orders from China dropped 3.11 percent to US$16.06 billion in January-February, it remained the largest market among the five major export areas, the MOEA said.

Among the top three export markets, the United States accounted for US$15.68 billion worth of orders during the two-month period, marking a year-on-year growth of 10.99 percent, while Europe placed orders worth US$11.95 billion, up 7.76 percent from last year.

(By Hugan Chiao-wen and Hanna Liu)
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