* May export orders +6% y/y vs +0.3% poll forecast
* Export orders from China -13.4% y/y vs -16.9% in April
* Ministry sees June orders between +3.3% and +6.1% y/y
* Warns of global economic uncertainly
TAIPEI, June 20 (Reuters) - Taiwan's export orders, a
bellwether for global technology demand, logged a strong annual
rise in May, recovering from COVID-19 lockdowns in China and
global supply chain disruptions, but the government warned of
global economic uncertainty ahead.
Export orders last month were up 6% from a year earlier at
$55.43 billion, a record high for the month, the Ministry of
Economic Affairs said on Monday. Analysts had expected 0.3%
growth.
The rise followed a 5.5% annual drop seen in April's
figures, the first fall since February 2020, when the pandemic
had just begun sweeping the world.
Orders for telecommunications products in May grew 2.7% on a
year before, with some factories still being impacted by
pandemic measures in China. Laptop orders were down, for
example, the ministry said.
Orders for electronic products jumped 17.4%, driven by
semiconductor demand for high-end computing, autos and other
appliances, it said.
The trend towards working and studying from home has fuelled
growth in orders for Taiwanese electronics in the past two years
or so, more recently reinforced by a global semiconductor
shortage that has filled Taiwanese chip makers' order books.
The ministry said it expected June export orders to be
between 3.3% and 6.1% higher than a year before.
The ministry said global tech demand should keep driving
export order momentum, but it warned of the war in Ukraine
driving up inflation and of challenges presented by persistent
supply-chain bottlenecks.
"Uncertainty in the global economic outlook has increased,
which may suppress the growth momentum of orders," it added.
Taiwanese companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor
Manufacturing Co Ltd are major suppliers to
Apple Inc, Qualcomm Inc and other global tech
firms.
Dai Si-ting, an analyst at Cathay Securities Investment
Trust, said May's performance was a "pleasant surprise", but the
second half of the year could be more difficult.
"In the short term, there are still many uncertainties and
variables in the international economic situation," he said.
"Some demand may still weaken under the impact of high
inflation."
May orders from China were down 13.4% from a year earlier,
compared with a fall of 16.9% seen in April, while orders from
the United States rose 10.5%, compared with the previous 0.2%
fall.
Export orders from Europe grew 9.5%, compared with an annual
contraction of 17% in April, while those from Japan fell 7.8%.
(Reporting by Liang-sa Loh and Ben Blanchard; Additional
reporting by Emily Chan; Editing by Bradley Perrett)