TAIPEI, Reuters – Taiwan’s export orders grew quicker than expected in November due to prolonged technology demand. But the government warns of uncertainties that may affect next year’s outlook.

Taiwan’s export orders rose 13.4% over a year to $65.5 billion in June, an indicator of global tech demand. The highest-ever monthly total, data from Ministry of Economic Affairs revealed on Monday.

This was the 21st month for expansion. The pace of growth was much higher than what was predicted in a Reuters poll, which is 5.8%.

Ministry officials stated that supply chain challenges were less severe and that there was strong consumer demand for 5G technology ahead of the holiday season.

According to the ministry, it expects that 2021 export orders will rise by between 24.9% – 25.2% over 2020.

Huang Yu-ling (Minister of Statistics) said however that the future was uncertain due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the fact that numbers for 2022 will come off the 2021 high base.

Huang stated that there would be “supply chain bottlenecks” in the future. It is hard to predict whether high growth will occur next year.

Taiwanese suppliers are traditionally very busy at the end of each year due to New Year’s and Christmas holidays. The Lunar New Year is in February.

Foxconn Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC) and Foxconn Taiwan Inc (NASDAQ) are key suppliers to Apple Inc (NASDAQ) and Qualcomm (NASDAQ) Inc, as well as other tech companies worldwide.

The October export orders rose by 14.6% over the previous year to $59.1 trillion, which was below expectations due to problems with supply in tech.

According to the ministry export orders for December are likely to decrease by 0.1% and increase by 2.4% over the previous year.

In November, orders from the United States grew 10.8% from one year ago. This is a much faster pace than the 0.5% recorded in October. Meanwhile, China’s orders jumped 25.3% to compare with a 21.7% increase the previous month.

European orders fell by 2%. Japanese orders rose 0.7%.