Industrial production accelerated last month, growing 7.03 percent annually as robust demand for chips used in mobile phones and laptop computers boosted output of electronic components to hit a record high, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
The annual growth outpaced the 6.15 percent increase recorded in July.
The ministry expects the trend to continue this month thanks to restocking demand ahead of China’s national day shopping season, which begins early next month, and new product launches by global brands.
“The outlook for this month is good... Sales of new mobile phones from global brands and white-box brands from China will provide a boon to Taiwan’s semiconductor and smartphone camera lens makers,” Yang Kuei-hsien (楊貴顯), deputy director-general of the ministry’s statistics department, said by telephone.
“Besides that, the global economic recovery will help stimulate demand for automobile components, machinery tools and steel products made by local manufacturers,” he said.
PACE TO CONTINUE
A survey conducted by the ministry showed that the manufacturing production index is expected to stay at a similar high level this month, compared with last month’s 110.56.
As many as 71.7 percent of companies responding to the survey said they expected the index to remain unchanged this month from last month.
Manufacturing production accounts for the largest portion of the nation’s industrial output.
Last month, industrial output rose for the seventh consecutive month to 110.66, compared with 103.39 the previous year, marking the second-highest level after July’s 112.34. The manufacturing output index climbed 7.2 percent annually.
Among the six subindices of manufacturing output, electronic components rose to an all-time high last month at 130.09, up 12.83 percent year-on-year, as strong demand for mobile phones, laptops and LED lighting drove up chip production, the ministry’s statement said.
THE BAD NEWS
However, the LCD panel output sub-index shrank 0.78 percent last month from a year earlier, the ministry’s statistics showed.
Production of computer and optical components jumped 14.98 percent annually, fueled by improved demand for high-end camera lenses used in smartphones, cloud computing-enabled servers and PCs.
The chemical material sub-index was the weakest of the six, dropping 5.15 percent year-on-year as some of the nation’s major polyvinyl chloride producers suspended production for annual maintenance.
In the first eight months of the year, industrial output rose 5.04 percent annually to 104.79, with the manufacturing output index showing the fastest growth to 105, an annual expansion of 5.38 percent.
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