The nation’s industrial production posted annual growth of 5.02 percent last month, marking its second consecutive month of expansion, boosted by demand for Apple Inc’s iPhone 7 series, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
The recovery might help industrial output swing back into positive territory this year, after last year’s decline.
Manufacturing — which accounts for nearly 93 percent of total industrial output — last month climbed 6.47 percent year-on-year, marking its fifth consecutive month of gains, the ministry said.
The electronic component ssector, which is the pillar of the manufacturing industry, saw a 20.69 percent annual jump in production due to strong demand for the iPhone 7, Department of Statistics Deputy Director-General Wang Shu-chuan (王淑娟) said.
The result narrowed the year-on-year contraction in industrial production for the first nine months of the year to 0.12 percent, compared with the 0.75 percent fall recorded in the first eight months, she said.
“The ministry now expects industrial output to register an annual growth this year, as the outlook remains positive,” Wang told a news conference, declining to estimate a range.
Strong sales of smartphones by international brands are fueling inventory demand for electronic components this month, benefiting Taiwanese firms that supply medium and small panels, chipmakers and chip packagers, Wang said.
Global demand for TVs, smartwatches and virtual-reality devices is expected to boost sales of computers and optical products this month, she said.
Wang said that recovering demand and rising selling prices for steel would also lend support to industrial output and so would local petrochemical plants completing annual maintenance.
The ministry estimates that production this month will increase 4 percent year-on-year, she said.
In a separate statement, the ministry said that wholesale revenue last month fell 0.9 percent annually and 0.8 percent monthly to NT$826.3 billion (US$26.08 billion), dragged by declining demand for machinery tools.
Wang said that softening demand for machinery tools from Japan last month offset the growth momentum in chips, panels, DRAM and graphics cards.
Wang said the retail sector posted 2.2 percent annual growth in sales to NT$328 billion last month, supported by department stores’ annual sales.
Thanks to an increase in the number of wedding banquets and restaurant spending, restaurant sector revenue rose 5.3 percent to NT$35 billion last month, she said.
The ministry forecast that the revenues of the retail and restaurant sectors would climb by 1 percent and 2 percent respectively this month from last month, on the back of the peak season for annual sales and the Double Ten National Day holiday, Wang said.
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