Taiwan Dec exports 12.1 yy vs 13.3 Reuters poll
Exports to China 16.4 yy previous month 20.9
Finance ministry expects Jan exports 20 to 24 yy
Ministry says decline to continue in Q1

TAIPEI, Jan 7 Reuters Taiwan39;s exports fell for a fourth straight month in December due to the worsening state of the global economy, as inflation and rising interest rates weighed on demand, and benefits from China39;s relaxation of its COVID controls had still to emerge.

Exports dropped 12.1 by value last month from a year earlier to 35.75 billion, the lowest in 20 months, the Ministry of Finance said on Saturday.

That followed a 13.1 drop in November, and was slightly better than Reuters poll forecast for a 13.3 contraction.

For December, the ministry said global demand was slowing gradually, due to inflationary pressures and interest rate rises in major economies, as well as disruptions to factory production in China amid a spike of COVID19 cases after Beijing dismantled its zeroCOVID regime.

The ministry saw Taiwan39;s exports continuing to decline in the first quarter as it expected the global economy to slow significantly, with major uncertainties posed by both the war in Ukraine and the spread of COVID19 in China.

The positive demand driven by new technologies and rising silicon content in end products would not be able to offset these negative impacts, the ministry said in a statement.

Taiwan39;s total exports of electronics components in December fell 1.4 to 16.04…