Despite an appreciating currency, Taiwan's export orders continued to grow in November, putting it on course to reach its goal of US$405 billion in export orders for the year, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said Monday. Taiwan's export orders in November rose 14.34 percent year on year to a record US$35.74 billion on the back of strong demand for consumer electronic products such as cell phones and computers, the MOEA said. The November export orders only grew by 7.27 percent year-on-year in Taiwan dollar terms after the local currency rose 5.04 percent against the greenback in November, according to the MOEA's Statistics Department. The November figure grew 0.27 percent, or US$100 million, from October, department officials said. In the first 11 months of this year, Taiwan's export orders rose 27.32 percent from the year-earlier level to US$370.15 billion, the officials said. Export orders in December are expected to top US$35 billion, leaving the department optimistic that the US$405 billion goal for all of 2010 would be attained, officials said. Export orders indicate deliveries three months in advance and are considered a key economic indicator. In November, export orders for information and communications products grew 7.67 percent year-on-year to US$9.24 billion, while those for electronic products were up 12.57 percent to US$8.55 billion, and orders for precision equipment were up 8.51 percent to US$3.01 billion, according to the Statistics Department. Information and communications products, along with electronic goods and precision equipment accounted for over 50 percent of Taiwan's total export orders in November. Export orders for base metal related products rose 31.01 percent, or US$580 million, from a year earlier as a result of rising sales prices and a low comparative baseline from 2009, according to the department. In November, export orders placed by China and Hong Kong totaled US$9.19 billion, up 16.56 percent from a year earlier, while export orders from the United States grew 13.48 percent to US$7.8 billion, the department said. Export orders placed by Europe rose 17.61 percent from a year earlier to US$7.03 billion in November, while orders from Japan totaled US$4.05 billion, up 5.74 percent year on year, the department said. Meanwhile, Statistics Department Director-General Huang Ji-shih said over half, or 50.95 percent, of the export orders received in November would be produced overseas, a new high, with 83.32 percent of the information and communications products ordered to be produced outside Taiwan. 