Taiwan's machine tool industry has a good momentum with double growth in imports and exports

In the 1st to 5th years of 2011, the machine tool industry in Taiwan was in a good situation, with significant growth in imports and exports. In the first five months, the total export value of Taiwan's machine tools reached 1.58 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 53.6% year-on-year; total import volume reached 357 million U.S. dollars, a year-on-year increase of 66.0%.

In the Taiwan machine tool export category, the export value of cutting machine tools was US$1.275 billion, an increase of 61.5% compared with the same period of last year; the export of molding machine tools was US$355 million, a year-on-year increase of 27.6%. In the exporting countries/regions, China and Hong Kong became the main export regions of Taiwan's machine tools, accounting for 43.5% of its total exports, reaching US$687 million, an increase of 42.3% year-on-year; followed by the United States, accounting for 6.7% of the total. It was US$153 million, a substantial increase of 137.2% year-on-year.

Overall, in 2011, the world's major machine tool producing countries are in a pick-up phase. Orders and sales in Germany, the United States, and Japan have all increased to varying degrees. At present, orders for the third quarter of the machine tool industry in Taiwan have been completed, and the industry is now grasping orders for the fourth quarter.

From the perspective of imported machine tools, the import of cutting machine tools was US$309.3 million, an increase of 75.3% year-on-year; the import value of molding machine tools was US$407.9 million, a year-on-year increase of 23.8%. Japan became the first source of Taiwan's machine tool imports, accounting for 64.1% of the total, reaching US$229 million, an increase of 76.7% year-on-year. Switzerland, which is located in the second place, accounts for 11.3% of the total amount of 40 million U.S. dollars.