Fri, Oct 23, 2009 page11

• Wholesale, retail and F&B sales declined last month

  SEPTEMBER SALES SLUMP Cigarettes, drugs, food and beverages, cosmetics, automobiles and motorcycles outperformed other sectors in the wholesale industry

  • By Jason Tan / STAFF REPORTER WITH CNA
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  Total revenues in Taiwan’s wholesale, retail and food/beverage (F&B) industries totaled NT$1.84 trillion (US$57 billion) last month, showing declines of 0.59 percent from the previous year and 0.32 percent from August, the government said yesterday.

  For the first nine months of the year, total sales across the three industries were down 7.9 percent from last year to NT$9.96 trillion, the latest figures from the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ statistics department showed.

  The wholesale industry reported a contraction of 2.12 percent in sales to NT$796 billion. Sectors such as F&B, cigarettes, drugs and cosmetics, as well as automobiles and motorbikes, all posted positive growth, while other sectors declined.

  Meanwhile, retail sales totaled NT$263 billion, up 3.93 percent from the same period last year. Retailing of products that are not sold in shop fronts rose 18.81 percent, while sales of cars, motorbikes and peripherals soared 17.9 percent, thanks to a strong momentum in the automobile industry last month.

  Lastly, the F&B industry saw sales totaling NT$25 billion last month, an annual rise of 3.84 percent. Restaurants and bars showed the biggest increase in revenues at 4.61 percent, while beverage stores were the only sector to experience a drop in revenues at 1.26 percent.

  “Retail sales could be hurt by the government’s shopping voucher scheme ending in September. Most vouchers were spent early after they were distributed in January, and shoppers have unlikely postponed spending until the last validity month,” Tine Olsen, an economist at Moody’s Economy.com based in Sydney, said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.

  “On a more positive note, wholesale trade improved on a monthly basis. This bodes well for the goods-producing industries,” Olsen said.

  Separately, the Chungkang Export Processing Zone in central Taiwan attracted more than NT$10.335 billion in new investment this year as of Oct. 9, surpassing the expectations for the entire year, an official said on Wednesday.

  “The government’s aim was to attract NT$8.5 billion this year in new investment or capital increment by existing companies,” said Hsu Mao-hsin (許茂新), director of the Chungkang branch of the Export Processing Zone Administration.

  Thanks to promotional efforts, new investment in the zone — located near the Taichung Harbor, had exceeded its targets — Hsu said.

  Ten new ventures with a combined capital investment of NT$8.17 billion have been launched in the zone, and five capital increase projects by existing firms with a total capital infusion of NT$2.158 billion have been approved, Hsu said.

  Accumulated investment in the zone topped NT$43.8 billion during the same period, with 58 companies setting up production facilities there, Hsu said.

  A total of 93.37 hectares of land in the zone, or 86.1 percent of the total, have been leased, he said.
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