Taiwan October export orders grow less than expected on supply issues

TAIPEI: Taiwan’s export orders grew more slowly than expected in October due to supply problems in the tech sector, though the government said technology demand overall remained strong ahead of the year-end holiday shopping season and into next year.

Taiwan’s export orders, a bellwether of global technology demand, rose 14.6% from a year earlier to $59.1 billion in October, data from the Ministry of Economic Affairs showed on Monday.

While that was the 20th month of expansion, the pace was much slower than the median forecast for a rise of 22.8% in a Reuters poll.