TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of Finance said rising demand for artificial intelligence is fueling growth in the robotics and semiconductor sectors, creating new opportunities for Taiwan’s machinery exports.
The ministry noted a shift away from Taiwan’s traditional reliance on metalworking machine tools. In recent years, export volumes in that category have declined, per CNA. The downturn is attributed to strong competition from Japan and China, as well as government-imposed export restrictions to Russia.
In contrast, Taiwan’s exports of semiconductor-related machinery have grown significantly. By 2022, the export value exceeded NT$160 billion (US$5 billion), surpassing that of traditional machine tools. The sector’s share of total machinery exports increased from 6.4% in 2019 to 17.8% in 2022, reaching 20.5% last year.
Shipments of these tools were once heavily reliant on China, which accounted for about 56% in 2017. However, as China’s domestic machinery industry has expanded, Taiwan’s exports to China dropped to under 30% in 2023.
Southeast Asia has emerged as Taiwan’s second-largest market for these exports, making up around 20% of total shipments, with Singapore as the top destination. Europe and the US each account for about 10%, with the Netherlands serving as Taiwan’s primary European market.
Due to the US-China trade war, Taiwan’s overall machinery exports to the US rose last year to 24.2% of total exports, surpassing China’s 23.7% share for the first time.
Taiwan currently ranks 11th in the US machinery import market, with machine tools as the leading export. In China’s market, Taiwan primarily supplies machine tools, bearings, and drive shafts.
Exports to Germany focus on machine tools and semiconductor production equipment. For Japan, Taiwan mainly exports plastic and rubber processing machines as well as textile machinery, ranking among the top three suppliers in Japan’s import market.
