Taiwan exports fall 6.7 pct in February

Taiwan's exports fell in February from a year ago due to fewer working days during the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday and lower global oil prices, customs data showed on Monday.

Exports fell 6.7 percent year on year to 19.9 billion U.S.dollars in February, while imports lost 22.4 percent to hit 15.3 billion U.S.dollars, a surplus of 4.6 billion U.S.dollars in the month.

For the first two months, exports dipped 1.3 percent from previous year to 45 billion U.S.dollars, while imports dropped 13.2 percent year on year to 35.6 billion U.S.dollars, according to figures released Monday by local finance authorities.

The data showed the Chinese mainland remained Taiwan's largest trading partner, with 35.2 percent of exports, while 19.8 percent of imports came from the mainland.

Officials attributed the decline partly to lower global crude oil prices. On a year-on-year basis, crude oil imports were down 58.9 percent in the January-February period to NT$5.66 billion, accounting for 61.4 percent of the total two-month decline.