The production value of the nation’s manufacturing sector in the first quarter of the year grew year-on-year for the sixth consecutive quarter amid a continued global recovery, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said on Tuesday last week.
First-quarter production value was about NT$3.31 trillion (US$111 billion), up 3.3 percent from a year earlier, after a sequential 4.41 percent increase in the previous quarter, ministry data showed.
However, the first-quarter figure was down from NT$3.44 trillion seen in the fourth quarter of last year in the wake of slow seasonal effects, particularly in the high-tech segment, the data showed.
Among industries in the manufacturing sector, the electronic components industry posted the highest output with NT$898.2 billion in the first quarter, up 0.86 percent from a year earlier.
The production value of semiconductor firms, including wafer foundry operators and memory chipmakers, rose 11.91 percent to NT$363.1 billion on an increase in smart applications, while the flat panel sector saw its output fall 13.03 percent to NT$206.4 billion due to product prices, the ministry said.
Rising crude oil prices and increasing prices for petrochemical items boosted the production value of the chemical raw material segment by 6.83 percent to NT$488.6 billion, with the output of the base metals segment also rising 5.34 percent to NT$353.4 billion, it said.
The machinery business posted NT$163.5 billion in output, up 9.42 percent from a year earlier, but the output of the automobile and auto parts industry fell 4.08 percent to NT$90.1 billion, the data showed.
The ministry expects the manufacturing sector to post year-on-year output growth in the second quarter thanks to rising demand for applications in the Internet of Things, automotive electronics and high-performance computing, it said.
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