The nation’s industrial production last month expanded annually for a third consecutive month, but growth momentum was softer than government estimates due to weak production of Taiwan-made smartphones and cars, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
Industrial output rose 2.38 percent year-on-year, short of the ministry’s forecast of between 4 percent and 5 percent annual growth, the ministry said.
“The performance of cars and automotive component’s production caught us off guard. It unexpectedly contracted last month from a month ago,” Department of Statistics Deputy Director-General Wang Shu-chuan (王淑娟) told a news conference.
Wang said the weaker-than-expected sales of domestic brand smartphones and virtual reality (VR) devices also offset the growth momentum of industrial output.
The electronics component segment supported industrial production growth last month, with semiconductor and panel production increasing by 9.61 percent and 10.03 percent respectively on restocking demand for new consumer electronics goods and smartphones, Wang said.
The machinery production segment increased 8.24 percent last month, the ninth consecutive month of year-on-year expansion, driven by rising need for “smart” manufacturing, which prompted production of automation equipment, Wang said.
The ministry forecast manufacturing output, which accounts for more than 90 percent of industrial production, would gain 1 percent this month from a year earlier, Wang said.
“Semiconductors, flat panels, machinery goods and basic metals are expected to be the growth engines this month,” she said, citing a ministry survey of manufacturers.
However, cars and automotive component segments are expected to face headwinds and linger in annual decline territory this month, as the advent of Ghost Month, observed during the seventh month of the lunar calendar, dampens new car demand, Wang said.
Ghost Month began yesterday, while Lovers’ Day is on Monday.
In a separate release, the nation’s wholesale sector revenue rose 4.2 percent to NT$838.4 billion (US$27.68 billion) last month, spurred by increasing orders for servers, memory products, chips and steel products, the ministry said.
The restaurant and beverage sector inched up 1.8 percent year-on-year to NT$38.4 billion, thanks to new international and domestic branded restaurants entering the Taiwanese market, Wang said.
However, the retail sector’s revenue dropped by 1.7 percent annually to NT$338.8 billion last month, the second consecutive month of year-on-year decline, Wang said, attributing the result to declining new car, motorbike and jewelry sales, and a decline in the number of Chinese tourists.
The ministry forecast the wholesale sector would edge up 0.4 percent annually this month, while the restaurant and beverage sector would climb 2.7 percent on dining demand for Father’s Day and Lovers’ Day, Wang said.
The retail sector is estimated to log a 4.2 percent annual increase in revenue this month, supported by mid-summer Ghost Month shopping and gift demand for Father’s Day and Lovers’ Day, she said.
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