Manufacturing sentiment picked up last month, as smartphone and tablet PC launches in the first quarter bolstered demand for electronics components, the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) said yesterday.
The Taipei-based think tank’s latest report showed that manufacturing flashed “yellow-blue” last month, implying “weakness,” but better than the previous four straight months of “blue,” which represented a decline.
The reading for cyclical movement was 11.83 points last month, up 2.75 points from the previous month’s revised 9.08 points, given a lower comparison base last year, when the Lunar New Year holiday fell in February, the institute said in its monthly report.
Although the base effect was the major factor driving up last month’s readings, Gordon Sun (孫明德), deputy director of the institute’s macroeconomic forecasting center, said the sector had gradually started to recover, with electronics components taking the lead.
The sector flashed “green” — representing steady expansion — last month, from “yellow-blue” in January, data showed.
“Expectations that new smartphone and tablet products will continuously be launched this year helped drive up sentiment among electronics component manufacturers,” Sun said by telephone.
Sun said he expected the petrochemical segment to follow the recovery pace in the first quarter, and then for basic metals to pick up in the second half of the year.
As for domestic demand--related sectors, such as food and automobiles, he said they were expected to slow this year given a higher comparison base last year.
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