The performance of the nation’s manufacturing sector last month likely remained sluggish, an economist at the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) said on Friday, ahead of a report on the sector’s business climate to be released later this month.
The shortened working month resulting from the Lunar New Year holiday dragged down manufacturers’ production and sales last month, said Gordon Sun (孫明德), director of the institute’s macroeconomic forecasting center.
The projection came as the manufacturing sector’s cyclical movement flashed a “yellow-blue” indicator — implying weak sentiment — in January for a second straight month, the Taipei-based think tank said in a report on Friday.
The manufacturing sector’s cyclical movement stood at 12.88 points in January, up 1.54 points from a revised 11.34 points in December last year, the institute said in its monthly report.
Among the main industries in Taiwan, machinery equipment, automobiles, electronics components and chemistry products displayed a “green” indicator, signifying steady momentum, in January, the report showed.
The institute said the revised data for December last year indicated that business sentiment among domestic manufacturers had bucked the worsening trend recorded in the previous nine months.
Sun said the data also indicated that the sector’s sentiment had slightly improved in the first two months of this year, following the temporary solution to the US’ “fiscal cliff” and the rebound in the Chinese economy.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
BIG BUCKS: Chairman Wei is expected to receive NT$34.12 million on a proposed NT$5 cash dividend plan, while the National Development Fund would get NT$8.27 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday announced that its board of directors approved US$15.25 billion in capital appropriations for long-term expansion to meet growing demand. The funds are to be used for installing advanced technology and packaging capacity, expanding mature and specialty technology, and constructing fabs with facility systems, TSMC said in a statement. The board also approved a proposal to distribute a NT$5 cash dividend per share, based on first-quarter earnings per share of NT$13.94, it said. That surpasses the NT$4.50 dividend for the fourth quarter of last year. TSMC has said that while it is eager
‘IMMENSE SWAY’: The top 50 companies, based on market cap, shape everything from technology to consumer trends, advisory firm Visual Capitalist said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) was ranked the 10th-most valuable company globally this year, market information advisory firm Visual Capitalist said. TSMC sat on a market cap of about US$915 billion as of Monday last week, making it the 10th-most valuable company in the world and No. 1 in Asia, the publisher said in its “50 Most Valuable Companies in the World” list. Visual Capitalist described TSMC as the world’s largest dedicated semiconductor foundry operator that rolls out chips for major tech names such as US consumer electronics brand Apple Inc, and artificial intelligence (AI) chip designers Nvidia Corp and Advanced
RSS