Japan’s factory output rose for the fourth straight month last month as hopeful manufacturers boosted production to meet an uptick in global demand from depressed levels.
Industrial production in the world’s second-biggest economy climbed 2.4 percent from the previous month and “continues to show an upward movement,” the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said in a monthly report.
For the second quarter, factory output surged 8.3 percent — the biggest quarterly increase in more than five decades — though production was nearly one-quarter lower than a year earlier, reflecting the severity of the slump in previous months.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The figures suggest the recession is loosening its hold on Japanese manufacturers like Toyota and Sony, which rely heavily on consumers overseas to buy their cars and gadgets.
The unprecedented drop in world demand triggered by last year’s global financial crisis dragged the country into its steepest economic downturn since World War II.
“The Japanese industrial production release highlights the dilemma that seems to be facing a lot of investors, which is that the growth rate is strong but the level of activity is still very depressed,” said Richard Jerram, chief economist at Macquarie Securities in Tokyo.
“Emerging signs of demand improvement should offer reassurance,” Jerram said.
But economists worry that the recovery is not trickling down to workers and families.
Retail sales fell for the 10th consecutive month last month, while unemployment is expected to have risen again when the government releases its report today.
Nvidia Corp yesterday unveiled its new high-speed interconnect technology, NVLink Fusion, with Taiwanese application-specific IC (ASIC) designers Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科) among the first to adopt the technology to help build semi-custom artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure for hyperscalers. Nvidia has opened its technology to outside users, as hyperscalers and cloud service providers are building their own cost-effective AI chips, or accelerators, used in AI servers by leveraging ASIC firms’ designing capabilities to reduce their dependence on Nvidia. Previously, NVLink technology was only available for Nvidia’s own AI platform. “NVLink Fusion opens Nvidia’s AI platform and rich ecosystem for
‘WORLD’S LOSS’: Taiwan’s exclusion robs the world of the benefits it could get from one of the foremost practitioners of disease prevention and public health, Minister Chiu said Taiwan should be allowed to join the World Health Assembly (WHA) as an irreplaceable contributor to global health and disease prevention efforts, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. He made the comment at a news conference in Taipei, hours before a Taiwanese delegation was to depart for Geneva, Switzerland, seeking to meet with foreign representatives for a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the WHA, the WHO’s annual decisionmaking meeting, which would be held from Monday next week to May 27. As of yesterday, Taiwan had yet to receive an invitation. Taiwan has much to offer to the international community’s
CAUSE AND EFFECT: China’s policies prompted the US to increase its presence in the Indo-Pacific, and Beijing should consider if this outcome is in its best interests, Lai said China has been escalating its military and political pressure on Taiwan for many years, but should reflect on this strategy and think about what is really in its best interest, President William Lai (賴清德) said. Lai made the remark in a YouTube interview with Mindi World News that was broadcast on Saturday, ahead of the first anniversary of his presidential inauguration tomorrow. The US has clearly stated that China is its biggest challenge and threat, with US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth repeatedly saying that the US should increase its forces in the Indo-Pacific region
ALL TOGETHER: Only by including Taiwan can the WHA fully exemplify its commitment to ‘One World for Health,’ the representative offices of eight nations in Taiwan said The representative offices in Taiwan of eight nations yesterday issued a joint statement reiterating their support for Taiwan’s meaningful engagement with the WHO and for Taipei’s participation as an observer at the World Health Assembly (WHA). The joint statement came as Taiwan has not received an invitation to this year’s WHA, which started yesterday and runs until Tuesday next week. This year’s meeting of the decisionmaking body of the WHO in Geneva, Switzerland, would be the ninth consecutive year Taiwan has been excluded. The eight offices, which reaffirmed their support for Taiwan, are the British Office Taipei, the Australian Office Taipei, the
RSS