Last year was a disappointing one for Taiwanese bicycle producers, as exports by volume dropped a full 20 percent compared with the figure from 2008. The country exported 4.32 million bikes in 2009. It had a smaller drop by value, which fell by 10 percent to $1,249.7 million.
The Taiwan Bicycle Exporters’ Association reports that shipments to the EU fell by 22.5 percent to 2.80 million units, a 13.6 percent drop in value to $625.0 million. The EU is the destination of 65 percent of total exports. Shipments to the U.K. dropped by 27.7 percent to 692,000 bikes. Germany’s figure fell by 20.7 percent to 460,250; the Netherlands dropped by 8.4 percent to 411,550; and Belgium was down by 41.1 percent to 183,000.
Taiwan’s exports to the U.S. decreased by 17 percent to 598,600 units. Shipments to Japan were the only bright spot, with an increase of 11.6 percent to 276,550 bicycles.
The final tally for 2009 is expected to show the production of a total of 78.4 million bicycles made in China, Taiwan, Japan and Korea. The bulk, 92 percent or 72 million, were made in China. Taiwan’s share was 7 percent, or 5.3 million, and Japan’s was 1 percent, or 1.09 million. Korea trailed with just 10,000 bikes produced.
