Last year, the output of the local machine tool industry totaled NT$149.4 billion (US$4.74 billion), up 15.8 percent from a year earlier and trailing only the NT$166.7 billion recorded in 2012 and the NT$163.8 billion registered in 2011, according to ministry data.
It said that as the U.S. economy -- the largest in the world -- showed signs of significant improvement, while China -- the second- largest economy -- geared up to install automation equipment for industrial production, orders placed for Taiwan's machine tools grew.
In addition, the local machine tool sector benefited from the booming global auto industry, while increased investment in Taiwan's manufacturing sector also boosted demand for locally made machine tools.
Machine tools accounted for more than 20 percent of the local machinery industry. The production value growth of the sector even beat the 10.7 percent year-on-year output growth recorded by the entire machinery industry, the MOEA statistics indicate.
The MOEA said that as demand for automation equipment from the U.S. and China remains strong and the European economy is reviving, it is possible that the local machine tool business could post NT$160 billion in production output in 2015.
In 2014, Taiwan exported a total of NT$109.1 billion-worth of machine tools, up 8.7 percent from a year earlier, the MOEA said.
China served as the largest buyer of Taiwan's machine tools last year, accounting for 32.2 percent of total outbound sales. The U.S. came second, making up 11.3 percent of the total, the data shows.
Taiwan imported NT$14.9 billion-worth of machine tools in 2014, up 11.2 percent from a year earlier, the MOEA added. Japan was the largest supplier, accounting for 51.6 percent of the total purchases, followed by Germany with 15.8 percent and China with 9.1 percent, the ministry said.
http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aeco/201503050020.aspx
