Taipei, Oct. 21 (CNA) The value of export orders received by companies in Taiwan rose for the third consecutive month in September, according to statistics released Monday by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).

Export orders in September rose 2 percent year-on-year to US$38.42 billion, the fourth-highest monthly total in history.

The growth was largely driven by rising demand for information and communications products and electronics goods, which benefited from the launch of new mobile devices.

Orders placed for the two categories of products rose 16.2 percent and 5.6 percent, respectively, in September, compared with the same month of last year.

Orders for precision instruments, basic metals, rubber and plastic products, and chemicals and machinery fell, however, because of the global economy’s sluggish recovery, the ministry said.

Precision instrument orders, for example, fell 17.8 percent year-on-year to US$2.92 billion for the month, the statistics showed.

Lin Lee-jen, director-general of the ministry’s Department of Statistics, attributed the decrease to lower demand for television panels due to the growing popularity of mobile devices and increasing competition from panel manufacturers in China.

September orders for machinery totaled US$1.55 billion, down 9.6 percent from a year earlier, in large part because manufacturers are less willing to invest amid largely sluggish global growth.

By region, export orders from the European Union and the United States in September registered year-on-year growth of 15.6 percent and 7 percent, respectively, while orders from China, Japan and the six major Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members -- Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia -- registered declines.

The decline in orders from the six ASEAN countries after four straight months of order growth was a warning sign for Taiwan, Lin said.

But the statistics official expected demand for information and communications products and electronics to remain stable because of the launch of more mobile devices in the coming weeks.

Overall orders in October are expected to be similar to the level seen in September, Lin added.

Although Taiwan has seen three consecutive months of growth in export orders, Lin said chances were slim that Taiwan would register full year growth for export orders in 2013.

Source: Focus TAIWAN News Channel