The local semiconductor sector served as a driver to sales growth for Taiwan’s science parks, helping major domestic high-tech production bases achieve record-high revenue in the first half of this year, the Ministry of Science and Technology said on Tuesday last week.
Statistics compiled by the ministry showed that science parks in Taiwan posted NT$1.13 trillion (US$34.37 billion) in sales for the January-June period, up by 6.47 percent from a year earlier, marking a new high.
In the six-month period, the three largest science parks in Taiwan — the Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區), Central Taiwan Science Park (中部科學園區) and Southern Taiwan Science Park (南部科學園區) — all recorded growth in sales, the ministry said.
Hsinchu Science Park sales grew 2.79 percent from a year earlier to NT$547.1 billion, while sales in Taichung’s Central Taiwan Science Park rose by 0.99 percent year-on-year to NT$241.7 billion and revenue in Tainan’s Southern Taiwan Science Park jumped 17.64 percent from a year ago to NT$344.7 billion.
The ministry said that the Southern Taiwan Science Park’s significant sales growth largely reflected an increase in shipments of newly launched semiconductor products during this period.
The three science parks house production facilities of the major integrated circuit firms in Taiwan. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, operates wafer plants in the parks.
The ministry’s data showed that revenue posted by plants owned by the local semiconductor sector in the science parks rose by 13.55 percent year-on-year in the first half of this year, sales recorded by the information sector grew 11.27 percent, sales registered by the precision machinery sector climbed 11.15 percent and revenue posted by the biotech sector rose by 18.87 percent.
Exports from Taiwan’s science parks in the first half of the year rose by 1.15 percent from a year earlier to NT$666.5 billion, with outbound sales posted by semiconductor firms located in the science parks up by 73.45 percent year-on-year on the back of strong demand for semiconductor production equipment, the ministry said.
In the six-month period, the value of products imported by Taiwan’s science parks fell by 7.31 percent year-on-year to NT$367.5 billion, the ministry added.
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