Taiwanese manufacturers in information technology, steel, machinery, petrochemical and automobile industries continued their shift into full gear last month, causing industrial production to rise 30.67 percent from the same period last year, the latest economic data showed yesterday.
Last month? growth rate was lower than an annual increase of 32.03 percent in April, and compared with the Citigroup Global Markets Inc? average market 苯orecast of a 31.94 percent increase.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs?monthly index of industrial production increased 2.45 percentage points to a record high of 124.42 last month. Following seasonal adjustment, the index fell 0.17 percentage points from the previous month, the ministry said in a report.
The production index measures output in five major industries ?mining and quarrying, manufacturing, electricity and gas supply, water supply and real estate construction ?and is expressed as a percentage of real output in the base year of 2006 with a score of 100.
The latest production gauge showed that output increased across the board last month, except in the real estate construction industry, indicating that export-oriented manufacturers were still gearing up production amid the global economic recovery.
Last month, manufacturing surged 33.04 percent year-on-year, which was followed by an increase of 6.55 percent in the electricity and gas supply industry, 6.44 percent growth in the mining and quarrying industry and 0.19 percent in the water supply industry.
Output in the real estate construction industry, however, slumped 28.54 percent from a year ago, the ministry? report showed.
Taking a closer look at the various sectors within the manufacturing industry, the recent launch of new electronics gadgets such as Apple Inc? iPad tablet device and the iPhone has helped boost production of electronic parts and components, with an annual increase of 47.50 percent, the ministry said.
?asic metals, machinery equipment and tech products all posted 40 percent year-on-year growth in the month, while chemicals and consumer goods were growing by their teens. This suggests that the tech sector continued to underpin industrial production,?Citigroup said in a client note yesterday.
?n average, industrial production increased by 31 percent year-on-year in April-May, down from 47.1 percent in the first quarter. This indicates that year-on-year GDP growth will likely slow in the second quarter,?it said.
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