The economy remained sluggish last month, but showed signs of a pickup, with machinery and electrical equipment imports improving, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday.
The government’s business monitoring system rose by 2 points to 18 last month, moving into the “yellow-blue” zone, from “blue” in April, a sign that Taiwan’s export-oriented economy is shifting gears, hopefully back to the course of a modest recovery with the advent of the high sales season for local manufacturers, the council said in a statement.
April’s “blue” reading had raised concern over an economic downturn after the global recovery proved weaker than expected in the first quarter.
POSITIVE MOMENTUM
While the overall score for the nine business gauges on the council’s business monitoring system picked up, only two component indices — M1B money supply and machinery and electrical equipment imports showed positive momentum, the council’s report said.
Other sub-indices stayed in negative territory, in line with poor showings in other economic data released by the government, including exports, industrial output and retail sales, the council said.
Meanwhile, the council’s leading indicator, a reflection of the economic landscape three to six months earlier, shed 0.41 percent last month, slipping for the 14th consecutive month, it said.
SLOWDOWN EASING
However, the pace of the slowdown eased, it said, a sign that the situation might grow less disappointing going forward, the report said.
The coincident index, a reflection of incumbent economic conditions, dropped 0.72 percent last month from April given weaker data, the report said.
Taiwan is home to the world’s major chipmakers, chip designers and handset, personal computer and critical component suppliers. Earlier this week, Yuanta-Polaris Research Institute (元大寶華研究院) voiced concern over the increasing lack of growth drivers in Taiwan, as China is reducing its dependence on Taiwan’s electronics products.
Central bank Governor Perng Fai-nan (彭淮南) on Thursday also urged Taiwanese firms to reinvent themselves and overcome growing competition from China.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, has decided to slow down its 3-nanometer chip production as Intel Corp, one of its major customers, plans to push back the launch of its new Meteor Lake tGPU chipsets to the end of next year, market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. That means Intel has canceled almost all of the 3-nanometer capacity booked for next year, with only a small amount of wafer input remaining for engineering verification, the Taipei-based researcher said in a report. Based on Intel’s original schedule, TSMC was to start producing the new chipsets in
Aptera Motors Inc cofounder Chris Anthony, left, and Formosa AdvEnergy Technology Corp chairwoman Sandy Wang pose for a photograph next to an Aptera three-wheeled solar electric vehicle at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Formosa AdvEnergy yesterday signed an agreement to supply batteries for Aptera Motors’ solar electric vehicles. Formosa Smart Energy Tech Corp, another unit of Formosa Plastics Group, will also jointly develop a new generation of lithium iron phosphate batteries with Aptera Motors, the companies said.
INDUSTRY CLUSTER: The company was invited to a groundbreaking ceremony for an industrial park in the city, where officials hope to establish a semiconductor hub Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said that the construction of a planned 12-inch wafer plant in Kaohsiung would start later this year. The chipmaker’s comments came after the Kaohsiung City Government invited the company to attend a groundbreaking ceremony on Sunday at the Nanzih Technology Industrial Park (楠梓科技產業園區), where the new plant is to be built. The park would sit on the former site of a naphtha cracking plant owned by state-owned oil refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油). Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) yesterday did not confirm whether work on the Nanzih industrial park would begin on Sunday, but said it
‘NO NEED TO WORRY’: The central bank governor said foreign selling on the TAIEX is normal for this time of year and that the nation has ample forex reserves Taiwan would emerge unscathed from China’s retaliatory actions to protest US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei, top monetary and financial officials said yesterday. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) shrugged off unease over potential instability in the foreign exchange and stock markets after foreign portfolio funds trimmed their holdings of local shares for two straight days amid Beijing’s threats of retaliation. “There is no need to worry,” Yang said on the sidelines of an event to celebrate the first anniversary of the opening of Central American Bank for Economic Integration’s (CABEI) Taipei office and the 30th anniversary of