Dec export orders 16.0 yy vs 0.25 in forecasts
Orders from China 3.5 yy vs 8.8 in prior month
Ministry sees January orders between 15.8 and 20.0 yy
Ministry warns on geopolitical uncertainty

TAIPEI, Jan 22 Reuters Taiwan39;s export orders fell more than expected in their worst performance in six months in December, with the outlook for the island39;s hightech products remaining poor due to growing doubts about global economic growth.

Export orders last month slipped 16.0 from a year ago to 43.81 billion, the worst showing since July and well below the average analyst forecasts of a 0.25 decline predicted in a Reuters poll. Orders edged up 1.0 yearonyear in November.

Orders for goods from the island, home to tech giants such as chip manufacturer TSMC, are a bellwether of global technology demand.

Taiwan39;s Ministry of Economic Affairs said it expects export orders in January to contract between 20.0 and 15.8 from a year earlier.

Huang Yuling, director of the ministry39;s statistics agency, said the risk of a global economic downturn were increasing, making manufacturers particularly conservative about placing orders.

The environment of high prices and high interest rates is still there, and there is still geopolitical uncertainty, Huang said. That will suppress consumption and investment in the short term, and interfere with the economic recovery.

The ministry, in a statement about the export orders, also pointed to rising tensions in the Red Sea, which have…