Supply Chain Research

The prolonged downturn in Asian export growth has been driven in large part by the electronics industry. A 6.6% slide in combined semiconductor exports from China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan in September suggests that is an ongoing issue. There are signs of improvement. Exports from Taiwan grew 6.6% year over year in September, driven in part by surging 5G telecoms demand which TSMC’s CEO CC Wei has stated he “could not have predicted” would be so significant. Yet, the total decline has been driven by a 31.5% slide in exports from South Korea, which has offset and 11.0% rise in shipme...