45.6% of local enterprises pessimistic about the future export market: survey

Around 45.6% of local companies surveyed have expressed that they are pessimistic about the outlook for the export market for the coming six months, the Economic and Technological Development Bureau (DSEDT) revealed on the basis of the latest survey data.
The percentage of companies who were optimistic about the future market dropped from 51.6% in the third quarter (Q3) of 2020 to 28.9% in the fourth quarter (Q4) 2020. However, the Q4 tally represented an improvement of 13% points year-on-year.
Just 0.4% of companies said they believed the export market would “significantly improve,” while another 28.5% thought it would “slightly improve.”
Meanwhile, the average monthly duration of orders received by the local companies surveyed was 3.1 months in Q4 of 2020, up 0.3 months from the 2.8 months recorded in the third quarter of 2020.
The duration of orders for the pharmaceutical, clothing manufacturing, electronics/electrical, and other industries lasted for 4.9, 3, 2.8 and 2.5 months, respectively.
In general, the surveyed enterprises regarded the United States and the mainland as relatively superior markets for exports.
The confidence of local manufacturers towards the export outlook for the next six months has declined in Q4 2020, quarter-to-quarter. The DSEDT said the drop indicated that the Covid-19 pandemic is still having an impact upon the global economy.
Employment in export manufacturing grew by 1.3% in Q4 2020 from Q3 2020, yet down 12.4% year-over-year.
Around 39.7% of the surveyed companies said that they still face a manpower shortage, an uptick from the previous quarter and the same period last year. This problem in the clothing manufacturing industry was found to be the most pronounced.
Insufficient orders, price competition, rising prices of raw materials, and shortages of manpower are the most concerning issues for the enterprises over the coming three months.