The manufacturing sector business climate was allocated a “yellow-blue” light, implying weakness, for the fifth straight month last month, amid slowing demand from enterprise customers in the US and Europe, the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (台灣經濟研究院) said yesterday.
The manufacturing sector’s cyclical movement stood at 10.41 points last month, down 0.04 points from the previous month’s revised 10.45 points, indicating that the overall business climate remained below the threshold for a “green” light — signifying steady growth — at 13 points, the Taipei-based think tank said.
“The rising uncertainties about the debt crisis in the US and Europe slowed demand for products made by Taiwanese companies,” the institute said in its monthly report.
A closer look at the manufacturing industry shows the electrical and electronics sector flashed “yellow-blue” last month on the continuing weak sentiment, the institute said.
Most of the segments in the essential goods sector flashed “yellow-blue” or “blue,” for declining, last month, with the food segment the only one turning “green,” or stable, from “yellow-blue” in the previous month, it said.
In the petrochemical sector, segments of petroleum and coal products, and non-metallic mineral products flashed “yellow-blue” from “green,” while other segments remained “yellow-blue.”
The segments of metal products and metal basics in the metal and machinery sector flashed “blue” for the second straight months, while machine equipment segment stayed “green,” the report showed.
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