TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of Finance (MOF) said Tuesday (Oct. 8) that Taiwan’s export value in September was NT$1.3 billion (US$40.57 million), setting a historic record.

According to a Tuesday press release, Taiwan’s Q3 exports were US$124.13 billion, an 8.1% increase compared to the same period last year. Cumulative exports from January to September reached US$349.13 billion, a 10.2% year-on-year increase, per CNA.

MOF Department of Statistics Director Tsai Mei-na (蔡美娜) said September’s export performance was strong, driven not only by the traditional peak export season but also by emerging opportunities in AI and high-performance computing (HPC), along with the stocking effect brought by new consumer electronics products.

However, Tsai said the overall pace and strength of the global manufacturing sector's recovery are quite uneven. As a result, the rebound in traditional industrial exports observed in August did not continue into September.

Tsai said traditional industrial goods exports returned to a weaker state. This was partly due to deferred shipments caused by previous typhoons being cleared in August.

Regarding machinery exports, Tsai said although demand for semiconductor machinery from the US was strong, investments in China and Europe had slowed down, resulting in a 1.3% decline in machinery exports in September. Additionally, transportation equipment exports also declined year-on-year by 13.1% in September.