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Taiwan says trade not being much affected by Red Sea disruptions
Reuters -
February 5, 20248:04 AM GMT+1Updated 2 hours ago
TAIPEI, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Taiwanese companies are not being affected much by
disruptions to the key shipping lane of the Red Sea as it has coincided with the
traditional low season in demand for exporters, Economy Minister Wang Mei-hua
said on Monday.
Some shipping companies have suspended transit along the Red Sea route to avoid
being attacked by Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi group, which has launched waves
of exploding drones and missiles at vessels since November in response to
Israel's military operations in Gaza.
The Houthi attacks have primarily targeted container vessels moving through the
Red Sea.
Taiwanese container shipping line Evergreen Marine (2603.TW), opens new tab said
in December that ships scheduled to pass through the Red Sea would be rerouted
around Africa's Cape of Good Hope.
Speaking to reporters in Taipei, Wang said her ministry had spoken with 14
industry groups as well as companies to gauge the impact of the Red Sea
disruptions.
"The winter is the low season for Europe. So our shipping to Europe in the
winter is rather less. Before the Spring Festival it's even less," she said,
referring to the week-long Lunar New Year holiday which starts this week.
"Of course shipping costs have gone up," she said, but added it was not nearly
as bad as in the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Taiwan has a trade dependent economy and is a major producer of semiconductors
used in everything from cars and microwaves to smartphones and artificial
intelligence servers.
The second half of the year is when Taiwanese exporters are traditionally
busiest as they ramp up output for the year-end holiday season in Western
markets.
Taiwan's economy grew by a preliminary 1.4% in 2023, its slowest pace in 14
years, but is forecast to bounce back strongly this year to expand more than 3%
given strong demand for AI applications, many of which are powered by
made-in-Taiwan chips.
Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Sonali Paul
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