Taiwan export orders see biggest drop in 35 months

Taiwan's export orders dropped for the 10th consecutive month in January, new data showed on Wednesday.

Export orders were valued at 34.19 billion U.S. dollars last month, down 12.4 percent from a year earlier, the steepest decline in 35 months, according to a statement on the island's economic authority's website.

Export orders are an indicator of actual exports a month or so later, and Taiwan is known as a big production base for electronics. Its export orders are thus seen as a key reference for the global electronics sector.

The authority attributed the drop mainly to flagging global demand and low prices for oil and steel.

Precision apparatus, metal products, and plastic and rubber products saw orders plunging 30.6 percent, 19.6 percent and 17 percent. Other sectors all dropped at different levels.

The economic authority said orders may remain on a downward trend in the first quarter of the year due to continued weak demand, low oil and steel prices and a high comparison base. Endi