The survey, conducted in the second quarter of this year, indicated that nearly 30 percent of the interviewed local manufacturers took a dismal view of the export prospect in the second half of this year, while just 23.2 percent said they were optimistic about it, and all of them only predicted "slight increase."

The number of orders acquired by the interviewed local manufacturers averaged 2.77 per month in the second quarter, decreasing by 13.4 percent quarter-to-quarter and 11.2 percent year-on-year, according to the survey results.

As for the export market, local manufacturers generally deemed that export to Japan, the European Union and the United States was relatively better than that of Australia, Middle East nations, African nations and the Hong Kong SAR, the survey results showed.

Some 33.5 percent of the interviewed manufacturers also said they were troubled by the shortage of orders in the second quarter, while 25.2 percent and three percent respectively deemed that international competition on price and surging price of materials affected local export activities.

In addition, 62.9 percent of the interviewed manufacturers said international competition on price will still be their major problem in the third quarter, while 47.9 percent were concerned about shortage of orders, according to the DSE survey.