Taiwan export orders stumble hard in February

14.5% yoy decline almost reversed January increase.

BBVA reports that Taiwan export orders disappointed to the downside. February export orders fell by -14.5% y/y (consensus: -3.0%) after an 18.0% jump in January. More than half of the decline was accounted by a fall in orders from China and Japan of more than -20% y/y.

"The outturn is a reminder of the still-weak external demand environment, despite improving export trends in China (which rose by 23.6% y/y in January/February),” said BBVA.

"That said, the February export orders data should be taken with a grain of salt given distortions from the Chinese New Year timing, and given that orders for the January/February period still increased by +1.1% y/y, even after the disappointing February outturn," it said further.