Manufacturing sentiment rebounded last month for the second straight month as uncertainties over the global economy gradually fade, the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) said yesterday.
The Taipei-based think tank’s latest report classified the manufacturing sector’s business climate as flashing “blue” — implying a decline — for the sixth straight month.
However, the reading for cyclical movement reached 10.03 points last month, up 0.39 points from the revised 9.64 points posted in July, for the second consecutive month, the report said.
“Despite the sector’s sentiment still being in the slowdown zone, the rising trend for cyclical movement reflected some upsides over the near future,” Gordon Sun (孫明德), director of the institute’s macroeconomic forecasting center, said by telephone.
Sun said he expected the manufacturing sector to start flashing “yellow-blue” — representing weakness — from this month, led by momentum from the electronic components industry.
The launch of new smartphone and tablet products from the late third quarter to the fourth quarter, such as Apple Inc’s iPhone 5 and iPad mini, Google Inc’s Nexus 7 and Amazon.com Inc’s Kindle Fire 2, could help boost sentiment and shipments in the industry, Sun added.
Sun said segments with relatively sluggish sentiment, like the steel and cement industries, may be boosted next year on the back of China’s 12th five-year plan, which runs from last year to 2015.
In the institute’s survey for last month, major industries in the essential goods segment and the transportation segment generally flashed steady “green” and recovering “yellow-red” lights last month under rising demand, the report’s data said.
However, most of the industries in the petrochemical and rubber segments, as well as those in the metal segment, indicated pessimistic sentiment by flashing a “blue” light continuously, the institute’s statistics showed.
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
Greek tourism student Katerina quit within a month of starting work at a five-star hotel in Halkidiki, one of the country’s top destinations, because she said conditions were so dire. Beyond the bad pay, the 22-year-old said that her working and living conditions were “miserable and unacceptable.” Millions holiday in Greece every year, but its vital tourism industry is finding it harder and harder to recruit Greeks to look after them. “I was asked to work in any department of the hotel where there was a need, from service to cleaning,” said Katerina, a tourism and marketing student, who would
i Gasoline and diesel prices at fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.1 per liter, as tensions in the Middle East pushed crude oil prices higher last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week rose for the third consecutive week due to an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, as the market is concerned that the situation in the Middle East might affect crude oil supply, CPC and Formosa said in separate statements. Front-month Brent crude oil futures — the international oil benchmark — rose 3.75 percent to settle at US$77.01
RISING: Strong exports, and life insurance companies’ efforts to manage currency risks indicates the NT dollar would eventually pass the 29 level, an expert said The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rallied to its strongest in three years amid inflows to the nation’s stock market and broad-based weakness in the US dollar. Exporter sales of the US currency and a repatriation of funds from local asset managers also played a role, said two traders, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak publicly. State-owned banks were seen buying the greenback yesterday, but only at a moderate scale, the traders said. The local currency gained 0.77 percent, outperforming almost all of its Asian peers, to close at NT$29.165 per US dollar in Taipei trading yesterday. The
RSS