Energy usage in October climbed for a sixth month

The nation's energy consumption rose for a sixth month in October because of increased demand from electronics companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world's biggest supplier of made-to-order chips.

Energy increased 4.1 percent from a year earlier to the equivalent of 9.36 million kiloliters (58.9 million barrels) of oil in October, the Bureau of Energy said yesterday.

That's faster than the 1.9 percent gain in September.

Electronics used more energy, as customers raised orders to prepare for the year-end shopping season.

Production the information and electronics industries soared 22 percent in October from a year earlier, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said on Nov. 23.

TSMC's October sales surged 14 percent to a record high.

"The electronics and information industry is doing well, pushing up energy consumption," Wei Juen-shen (韋潤生), a planning official at the Bureau of Energy, said in a phone interview.

"The rise in energy consumption hinges on the conditions in the industrial sector," he said.

The bureau's data also showed that manufacturers and other industrial companies accounted for 54 percent of energy consumption in October.

Taiwan 19.1 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in October, 4.6 percent more than the same month last year, it said in a report.

For the first 10 months of the year, energy consumption reached the equivalent of 90.1 million kiloliters of oil, an increase of 2.8 percent from a year earlier.

The information and electronics industry consumed 16 percent more energy than a year earlier during the period, while petroleum refiners used 9.7 percent more energy.

Taiwan 98 percent of its energy needs from overseas in October. Crude oil imports increased 4.9 percent from a year earlier to 5.52 million kiloliters in the month, the bureau said.

Chinese Petroleum Corp (中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化), Taiwan's only oil refiners, processed 5.63 million kiloliters of crude oil in October, 8.9 percent more than a year earlier, according to the bureau.

Coal fell 4 percent to 5.08 million metric tons, and those of liquefied natural gas (LNG) climbed 32 percent to 946 million cubic meters, the bureau said.

For the January-October period, imports of crude oil gained 1.4 percent to 49.6 million kiloliters and LNG purchases rose 8.2 percent to 7.87 billion cubic meters. Coal imports declined 1.8 percent to 50.6 million metric tons.

LNG, which accounts for about 95 percent of Taiwan's natural gas needs, is gas that has been cooled for transport by ship.