Industrial production last month fell 0.75 percent on an annual basis to 110.71, ending two consecutive months of growth, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
On a monthly basis, it dropped 4.04 percent.
Output from the manufacturing sector, which accounts for more than 90 percent of industrial production, slipped 0.65 percent year-on-year and 3.53 percent month-on-month, the ministry said.
The chemical materials industry was a major reason behind the manufacturing sector’s setback, showing a decline of 10.84 percent year-on-year — the largest since July 2011 — due to quality controls and routine maintenance at naphtha cracking facilities, ministry data showed.
Flailing international crude oil prices also contributed to the decrease, the ministry said.
The base metal industry saw its production contract 12.1 percent year-on-year due to rising tariffs and falling global prices, the ministry said.
As a trade dispute between the US and China rages on, its impact was strongly felt by the automotive and machinery equipment industries, which posted declines of 16.94 percent and 1.65 respectively, the latest data showed.
On the upside, the electronics components industry’s production rose 3.14 percent annually last month, thanks to robust chip demand, buoyed by the launch of new consumer electronics and an accelerating 5G rollout, the ministry said.
However, production of LCD panels and related parts slipped 9.72 percent, as companies adjusted their production lines in response to an oversaturated market, it said.
The production of computers, electronics goods and optical components rose for a 12th month in a row, rising 24.5 percent last month, as companies scrambled to relocate or expand their production in Taiwan in light of the US-China dispute, the ministry said.
New smartphone models equipped with multilens cameras further contributed to the increase, while the deployment of 5G equipment also drove up demand for servers and network communication devices, it said.
Industrial production in the third quarter rose 6.19 percent sequentially and 1.77 percent from a year earlier.
However, it dipped 1.01 percent annually in the first three quarters, the ministry said.
The ministry added that a survey of local manufacturers found that production is expected to rise this month.
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