Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Login
  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Resin pricing news
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • CEO Issue
    • Diversity
    • Best Places to Work
      • 2022 winners
    • Processor of the Year
    • Rising Stars
    • Women Breaking the Mold
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • BRICS and Plastics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Reuters Responsible Business Europe 2022
    • Reifenhäuser Technologies Livestreams
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Resin Prices
    • All Resins
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
October 14, 2014 02:00 AM

iPhone 6, other smartphones may boost Taiwan's plastics market for late 2014

Steve Toloken
Assistant Managing Editor
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Print
    Graphic by Jessica Jordan

    TAIPEI, TAIWAN — Taiwan's plastics and rubber machinery industry, one of the world's largest exporters of plastics equipment, is projecting a modest recovery in the second half of the year, led by sales of the iPhone 6 and other smartphones.

    Judging by interviews at the Taipei Plas show in late September, the industry is looking to ride the coattails of Taiwan-based manufacturing giants like Foxconn and Pegatron.

    But it's not exactly a fast ride.

    The local plastics and rubber machinery industry saw exports increase a modest 2.3 percent, to $831.3 million, from January to August, and they expect final 2014 figures to show a roughly 5 percent increase in sales, said David Wu, head of the plastics and rubber machinery committee of the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry.

    While that's not huge growth, Wu said it would be a turnaround from the first half of the year, when plastic and rubber equipment exports dropped about 2 percent, to $599.6 million, compared to the same period in 2013. That came on top of a 6 percent drop in exports last year.

    “It is not very impressive growth but looking at other economies it's acceptable,” said Wu, who is also the general manager of vertical injection press maker Multiplas Enginery Co. Ltd. in Taoyuan. “I believe we can expect even better numbers in the coming months because of the iPhone 6. We also have many orders from Samsung.”

    Taiwan's machinery industry exports more than 80 percent of its equipment, with mainland China the largest market, accounting for between 25 and 30 percent of exports.

    TAMI said Taiwan is the world's fifth largest producer of plastics and rubber machinery, with production value of $1.51 billion last year.

    The island, with only 23 million people, has a high concentration of plastics for its size, and is the world's fourth-largest exporter of plastics machinery, behind the much larger economies of Germany, Italy and Japan, TAMI said.

    Taiwanese manufacturers like Foxconn hold key places in the global supply chain for electronics. Wu also pointed to some growth in automotive manufacturing helping local machinery makers.

    The Taiwanese industry's modest rebound in the second half of the year comes after a tough 2013, when exports declined 6.2 percent to $1.26 billion, which TAMI blamed on slower growth in China and weakness in the euro zone economies.

    In the first eight months of this year, however, Taiwan has seen machinery exports to China rebound. They grew 6 percent, to $227.3 million.

    Exports to the No. 2 market, Vietnam, soared 30 percent, to $73.5 million, lifting Vietnam past Thailand and Indonesia as an export destination.

    Elsewhere, it was mixed. Taiwanese companies traditionally focus on emerging markets in Asia, but they have also scored gains this year in the more developed economies of Japan and United States.

    Exports to Japan, its fifth-largest market, rose 20 percent to $37.5 million, while exports to the United States, ranked No. 6, rose 26 percent to $32.6 million.

    But sales to some key emerging markets were down: exports to Indonesia and Thailand, ranked third and fourth, fell 3 percent and 29 percent, respectively. And sales to India, ranked No. 7 on the export list, dropped 39 percent.

    Taiwanese companies said they were trying to expand exports to Africa, the Middle East, South America and Eastern Europe, and they scored some sizable gains, although from relatively small bases.

    “The biggest issue that the Taiwan plastics and rubber machinery industry faces is being over concentrated on the China and Southeast Asian markets,” according to an analysis from TAMI prepared for the show.

    John Hsu, chairman of TAMI, said Taiwan's been hurt by less investment and currency depreciation in emerging markets like Turkey, India and Southeast Asia.

    China and Southeast Asia occupy 56 percent of Taiwan's machinery exports, while the Middle East, Africa and South and Central America each account for only seven percent. But the recent growth has been in those smaller markets, industry figures show.

    Exports to Russia, for example, rose 49 percent to $24 million last year, while sales to companies in Mexico jumped 67 percent to $23 million.

    Exports to Nigeria, South Africa and Algeria rose 61 percent, 21 percent and 26 percent last year, to $15.5 million, $13.1 million and $10.9 million, respectively.

    Industry officials said they were hopeful for a turnaround in the rest of 2014.

    “I'm very optimistic for our development for the second half of the year, judging by our ability to meet customer specifications,” said Michael Wang, one of the vice chairman of TAMI's plastic and rubber machinery committee and an executive at Hong Kong-based Chen Hsong Group, which has a machinery factory in Taiwan.

    Organizers of the Taipei show also pointed to increased attendance and participation at the show as evidence of market promise.

    The five-day show had 18,600 attendees, a 17 percent increase from 2012, and 2,700 international visitors, an 8 percent increase. The show attracted 530 exhibiting companies, an increase of 12 percent from the last edition in 2012.

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Monoflo, Wittmann Battenfeld rely on trust to build recycling platform
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    Obituary: Joseph Prischak, Plastek founder, Hall of Famer
    2
    More resins see April price hikes, but not polyethylene
    3
    Material Insights: Rising prices; Ukraine war impact on materials; FRX Polymers has SPAC deal
    4
    Armstrong may lay off more than 600
    5
    Sustainable Plastics Live - June 2022
    SIGN UP FOR TO RECEIVE THESE EMAILS AND ENEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Urethanes Technology
    • European Rubber Journal
    • Tire Business
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2022. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • CEO Issue
        • Diversity
        • Best Places to Work
          • 2022 winners
        • Processor of the Year
        • Rising Stars
        • Women Breaking the Mold
      • Newsletters
      • Resin pricing news
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • BRICS and Plastics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • Reuters Responsible Business Europe 2022
        • Reifenhäuser Technologies Livestreams
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Resin Prices
      • All Resins
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified