The official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) declined further to 50.8 last month, from 51.1 in May, as manufacturers of basic materials, textiles and electrical equipment reported business softening, while data suggested that sentiment in some other sectors might be picking up, a Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) survey showed yesterday.
Manufacturers in other sectors generally fared weaker than expected in terms of earning results, but see business improving over the rest of the year, the survey showed.
The PMI reading, which aims to gauge the health of the manufacturing industry, barely indicated expansion last month, with the increase being the slowest in four months, CIER president Wu Chung-shu (吳中書) told a news conference.
A PMI value above 50 indicates business expansion, while scores below the threshold suggest contraction.
Of the component measures, new business orders gained 1.7 percentage points to 50.8 and output eased to 52.3, the survey said.
The employment sub-index grew 1 percentage point to 52 and the reading on delivery times contracted to 49.3, the survey said.
Volatility in commodity prices widened last month, driving firms to delay building inventories, Wu said.
Sub-indices on new export orders, order backlogs and material imports were all below the threshold, suggesting slack demand going forward, the survey found.
However, the gauge on business outlook rose slightly to 53.1, up from 52.7, indicating companies are generally positive about sales improving in the next six months.
Companies in the transportation, food, electronics and biochemical sectors are generally upbeat about growth momentum going forward, while firms involved in producing basic materials and electrical equipment expect business to deteriorate, the survey said.
For the first six months, manufacturers recorded lower sales and profits compared with the second half of last year but they increased payrolls and raised salaries, the report said.
The situation might brighten up from this quarter, with 48.4 percent of firms predicting better sales and 33.5 percent forecasting higher profits, Wu said.
The non-manufacturing index dropped to 50.5 last month from 54.8 in May.
The summer vacation is high season for restaurants and hotels, but ushers in low sales for wholesalers and real-estate developers.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, has decided to slow down its 3-nanometer chip production as Intel Corp, one of its major customers, plans to push back the launch of its new Meteor Lake tGPU chipsets to the end of next year, market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. That means Intel has canceled almost all of the 3-nanometer capacity booked for next year, with only a small amount of wafer input remaining for engineering verification, the Taipei-based researcher said in a report. Based on Intel’s original schedule, TSMC was to start producing the new chipsets in
Aptera Motors Inc cofounder Chris Anthony, left, and Formosa AdvEnergy Technology Corp chairwoman Sandy Wang pose for a photograph next to an Aptera three-wheeled solar electric vehicle at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Formosa AdvEnergy yesterday signed an agreement to supply batteries for Aptera Motors’ solar electric vehicles. Formosa Smart Energy Tech Corp, another unit of Formosa Plastics Group, will also jointly develop a new generation of lithium iron phosphate batteries with Aptera Motors, the companies said.
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday fined China Development Financial Holding Corp (中華開發金控) NT$20 million (US$666,756) and suspended its chairman over poor internal controls. The company’s management team was found to have given major shareholder Angelo Koo’s (辜仲瑩) secretary inside information about the conglomerate’s banking, insurance and securities units from October 2020 to October last year, Banking Bureau Director-General Sherri Chuang (莊琇媛) said. The data also included company plans to acquire China Life Insurance Co (中國人壽), employees’ performance assessment and payroll information, Chuang said. The commission said its investigation did not show that Koo made copies of internal data or took actions based
‘NO NEED TO WORRY’: The central bank governor said foreign selling on the TAIEX is normal for this time of year and that the nation has ample forex reserves Taiwan would emerge unscathed from China’s retaliatory actions to protest US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei, top monetary and financial officials said yesterday. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) shrugged off unease over potential instability in the foreign exchange and stock markets after foreign portfolio funds trimmed their holdings of local shares for two straight days amid Beijing’s threats of retaliation. “There is no need to worry,” Yang said on the sidelines of an event to celebrate the first anniversary of the opening of Central American Bank for Economic Integration’s (CABEI) Taipei office and the 30th anniversary of