Bloomberg
A record divergence between prices and volumes of Asia’s chip exports is making regional trade more resistant to external shocks, according to economic advisory company Oxford Economics.The consultancy’s proprietary Asia chip export index surged almost 81 percent in value in March from a year earlier, but rose only about 28 percent in volume terms.While such a split usually signals a price peak, “the pattern appears different” this time, economists led by Betty Wang (王蕊) said in a report on Monday.
Robots assemble circuitry during the SEMICON Southeast Asia semiconductor industry forum and exhibition in Kuala Lumpur on May 5.
The widening gap reflects “significant pricing power in advanced chips supported by a healthy order pipeline,” they said. “The solid performance has helped decouple regional trade from external headwinds, including the Middle East conflict, potential energy bottlenecks and tightening private credit conditions.”Fueled by a ravenous global appetite for chips to power the artificial intelligence (AI) industry, technology exports have boomed from Taiwan to South Korea, despite the disruptions unleashed by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and the US-Israeli war on Iran.
