Taiwan LED industry up almost 15 percent
The production value of Taiwan's LED industry rose almost 15 percent in the first nine months of 2016 from a year earlier as, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said last week. The story was reported in the China Post.
In the nine-month period, the output of the local LED lighting industry reached $238 million, up 14.8 percent from a year earlier and accounting for 59.6 percent of the total production value of the country's lighting business, the MOEA statistics showed.
The significant growth of the LED sector helped boost the output of the entire domestic lighting industry, which climbed 5.3 percent year-on-year in the first three quarters of 2016 to $400 million, according to the statistics.
Since the government began recording output data for the local LED lighting industry in 2008, the production value has been growing each year as consumers become more environmentally conscious, the ministry said.
In 2015, the sector's output hit a record $290 million, making up 56.2 percent of the local total lighting production value.
Based on the data for the first nine months of the year, the MOEA said, the figure for the whole of 2016 could break the 2015 record.
It said the growth of the LED sector indicates that energy efficient lighting equipment is gaining support in the global market, particularly as prices have been dropping since 2010.
In the first nine months of the year, Taiwan produced 26.55 million LED lighting units, an increase of 13.8 percent from a year earlier, with 74.6 percent being exported, the MOEA said.
The United States was the largest buyer of Taiwan's LED lighting products in the first 10 months of the year, importing $172 million worth, the MOEA said, citing Customs data.
However, the figure was 12.9 percent lower than in the same period of 2015 due to a decline in the price of low-end LED lighting products, the MOEA said.
In the 10-month period, LED lighting exports to the US accounted for 48.1 percent of Taiwan's total exports, the MOEA said, noting that the figure for the whole of 2015 was 51.6 percent.
