News

TAIPEI, Taiwan – The Taiwanese industry is directly hit by the looming economic crisis in the US, Europe and China. According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs the nation’s export orders in October suffered the sharpest drop since December 2001, accounting for a 5,5% percent year-on-year decline.

The only two industry sectors which showed growth in this period were bicycles and pharmaceuticals. In earlier Bike Europe reports it became clear that the major bike companies in the world, like Giant, Merida, Trek and Accell Group are not yet facing difficulties due to the economic downturn.

Last Tuesday Shimano reported that the bicycle department was driving the company’s profitability.

In general the Taiwanese economy is facing a difficult period. The total value of the export orders in November is down by 4.43 % from the previous month while they gained an 8.9 % rise from last year in the first 10 months of 2008.

Orders from China, including Hong Kong, formerly the nation’s largest export market, fell for the third month in a row, registering a 22.84 % year-on-year decline. This has reduced China to Taiwan’s second-largest export market next to the US over the past two months.

• For related items on Giant, click here
• For related items on Merida, click here
• For related items on Trek, click here
• For related items on Accell Group, click here
• For related items on Shimano, click here