EVEN though Taiwan is among the least affected countries by the ensuing Covid-19 pandemic, the closure of some economies abroad due to the impacts of the health crisis has taken its toll on its export results, like in the Philippines wherein the total value of plastic and rubber machineries shipped to the country has declined by 20 percent from $17 million in 2019 to $12 million in 2020.
“Before the [outbreak] of [the] pandemic, the average total value of plastic and rubber machineries exported by Taiwan to the Philippines was $20 million and [it accounted for] 2 percent in total Taiwan’s plastic and rubber machineries export value,” Bush Hsieh, vice chairman of the Plastics and Rubber Machinery Committee of the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI), told the BusinessMirror in a social-media interview. “[Last year,] it’s about 1.7 percent.”
The Southeast Asian market, according to him, is an important market for Taiwan’s plastic and rubber machinery industry.
In the Philippines alone, this sector is capable of meeting the diversified requirements, including the blown film extrusion machine for shopping, garbage, and industrial bags, as well as agriculture films and food packaging film application.
These equipment are also used in bottled water production line and recycling business, among others.
The injection molding machine, on the other hand, caters to various industries, such as computer, communication and consumer electronics, food packaging and even in households.
Manufacturing such products, however, was disrupted when economic activities were restricted by the national government-imposed lockdowns in Metro Manila and nearby areas starting mid-March of last year to curb the rapid spread of the coronavirus.
As a result, the value of Taiwan’s machinery export to the Philippines, like the Injection molding machine shrank by over 40 percent from $6.9 million to $4.0 million during the two periods in review.
“It shows the Covid-19 pandemic did affect the trade relations between the two countries,” Fu Chun Shin Machinery Manufacture Co., Ltd. Sales Manager Hank Wu said.
ChumPower Machinery Corp. Sales Support Engineer Tony Wu recalled some instances that industry players like them had experienced when transacting with their clients here at the height of the health crisis.
“Not only customers can not visit Taiwan, [but] local banks in [the] Philippines [were] also [shuttered] causing payment issues, therefore, disrupting shipping as well,” he shared.
With the resourcefulness of some, however, “most of the companies still find out the alternative way to continue the trade relations,” Polystar Machinery Co. Ltd. Chief Manufacturing Officer David Lo pointed out.
He noted that both the customers and suppliers are using the online conference meeting and social media to proceed with the closer contact and cooperation.
“Taiwanese machinery manufacturers keep expressing the core value and benefit to the global market via sustained innovation and advanced technology development,” Lo said.
The ripple effects from the pandemic may still be in progress since it impacts the global supply chain, but the Taiwanese machinery industry is bullish that trade and commerce worldwide will soon bounce back given the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines in most countries.
Proof that the tide is now changing for the better, Wu cited that statistics on the value of Taiwan-made injection molding machine delivered to the Philippines has so far increased by 37 percent from $592,700 in January to February 2020 compared to $814,200 during the first two months of this year.
“We can see the value of plastic and rubber machineries that Taiwan will export to the Philippines this year will be increased considerably,” he said.
Seeing that it will take two to three more years before the global trade could recover from the damage of the pandemic, Hsieh emphasized the need to create new technology and product for plastics machinery industry.
“Nowadays, the industry starts to connect with high-technology, medical and semiconductor industry. We believe the Taiwan’s plastics machinery industry will be getting to better and better in the future,” he stressed.
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