Taiwan’s industrial production hit a fourth consecutive record high, with the index hitting 125.71 last month, fueled mainly by rising orders for semiconductors, panels and printed circuit boards.
The index expanded 24.3 percent from June last year, said Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜), deputy director general of the Ministry of Economic Affair’s (MOEA) statistics department.
Manufacturing production — which accounts for more than 90 percent of total industrial output and includes the electronics, chemicals, food and textile sectors — grew 26.2 percent last month.
Output for the mining and quarrying industries rose 4.6 percent, while output for the construction sector was down 15.4 percent.
Industrial output for the first six months grew 37 percent from last year, the department said.
The MOEA said on Tuesday that Taiwan’s export orders — an indication of shipments in the next one to three months — increased 22.48 percent from a year earlier after a 34 percent gain in May.
The value of export orders climbed to US$34.2 billion last month from US$33.7 billion in May and may rise to a record US$400 billion this year, the MOEA said.
Meanwhile, domestic consumption also rose last month as more people were willing to spend.
Total sales for the wholesale, retail and food and beverage (F&B) sectors hit NT$1.16 trillion (US$35 billion), up 10.5 percent from last year and up 2.5 percent from May, the department’s figures showed. Combined sales for the first half of this year grew 12.7 percent to NT$6.58 trillion, the department said.
The wholesale sector expanded by 11.8 percent to NT$842.7 billion, thanks to strong sales reported by merchandise brokers as well as sales of machinery and equipment.
Revenue growth in the wholesale retail sector jumped 7.2 percent to NT$283.8 billion. Sub-sectors such as vehicles and components and construction were the main sales drivers, the department said.
The food and beverage sector posted year-on-year sales growth of 6.8 percent, to NT$28.8 billion. Within this sector, restaurant sales rose 7.6 percent, while those of beverage stores were up 1.5 percent.
“Domestic consumption is warming up as people are not holding back on their spending. This can be attributed to factors such as a bullish stock market and rising paychecks,” Tsai said.
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