The exports of Taiwan’s machine tool industry are expected to drop month-by-month this quarter, affected by falling demand in China and Europe, although the demand for Taiwanese robots is to grow this quarter, a Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robots Association (台灣智慧自動化與機器人協會) official said yesterday.
“The export value for machine tools plunged 19.4 percent annually to US$284 million last month… We expect the size of the decline to expand further this month due to a lack of demand,” association chairman Eric Chuo (卓永財) told reporters on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of Automation Intelligence and Robots Show at the Taipei World Trade Center Nangang Exhibition Hall.
The order visibility for Taiwan’s machine tools in the final quarter of the year is unclear at the moment, he said.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
The sector’s export value dropped 9.1 percent annually to US$164.6 million in the first half of this year, according to data from the Taiwan Machine Tool & Accessory Builders’ Association (臺灣區工具機暨零組件工業同業公會).
By export destinations, Chuo, who is chairman of the nation’s leading machine tool manufacturer — Hiwin Technologies Corp (上銀) — said the demand from Europe and China was weaker than expected, and that only US orders remained robust in the past six months.
Chuo said the weakness of the yen against the US dollar also affected Taiwan’s machine tool industry, as a cheaper Japanese currency undercuts orders to Taiwanese companies, while the strength of the New Taiwan dollar also had a negative impact.
The increasing localization of supply chains and softer-than-expected economic growth in China has also affected local machine tools demand, Chuo said.
Taiwanese machine tool makers need to invest in research and development to raise their competitiveness, such as investing in industrial automation or robots to meet the rising demand in the global market, he said.
Hiwin’s consolidated sales reached NT$7.95 billion (US$253.91 million) in the first half of this year, up 21.53 percent from NT$6.55 billion a year earlier, which Chuo attributed to an increase in sales for its automation and robots segment.
Chuo said he expects the export value for Taiwan’s industrial robots to grow month-by-month this quarter.
Machine and robotic control maker Avantech-LNC Technology Co Ltd (研華寶元) has a similar outlook, saying that it expects the demand for industrial automation to be stronger in the second half of this year due to labor shortages in China.
“Industrial computers that control industrial robots will benefit from the rising demand for industrial automation,” Avantech-LNC sales representative Allen Fan (范聖明) told the Taipei Times.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs said it estimates the production value of Taiwan’s industrial automation, including industrial robots, is likely to increase 10 percent annually this year to NT$1.2 trillion.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
Intel Corp yesterday reinforced its determination to strengthen its partnerships with Taiwan’s ecosystem partners including original-electronic-manufacturing (OEM) companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電). “Tonight marks a new beginning. We renew our new partnership with Taiwan ecosystem,” Intel new chief executive officer Tan Lip-bu (陳立武) said at a dinner with representatives from the company’s local partners, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US chip giant’s presence in Taiwan. Tan took the reins at Intel six weeks ago aiming to reform the chipmaker and revive its past glory. This is the first time Tan
RSS