Taiwan’s official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) was 56 last month, down from 56.1 in July, suggesting continued improvement in operating conditions, although the pace has probably plateaued, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday.
While it has been in expansion territory for the past 29 months, the critical economic bellwether eased to its lowest level in 19 months as tariff rows raised uncertainty over the global economy, the Taipei-based think tank said.
“The global scene grows increasingly opaque, but might continue to expand for the rest of the year,” CIER president Wu Chung-shu (吳中書) told a media briefing.
PMI data aim to gauge the health of the local manufacturing industry, Taiwan’s main growth driver, with values larger than 50 indicating expansion and values below the threshold signaling contraction.
The sub-indices on new orders, industrial output and exports slipped marginally from a month earlier, but stayed comfortably in expansion mode, Wu said.
Taiwan is home to the world’s largest suppliers of semiconductors, electronic parts and components used in smartphones and laptops, as well as Internet of Things and artificial intelligence applications.
Global technology brands, including Apple Inc, are to unveil next-generation gadgets this month, ramping up business for firms in their global supply chains, analysts have said.
That explained why the employment sub-index gained 2.1 points to 54.7 last month, the PMI report found.
Meanwhile, raw material prices continued an uptrend, with the sub-index registering 65.6, while imported raw material volume held at 56, compared with 68.6 and 56 respectively a month earlier, it said.
Meanwhile, the private Nikkei Taiwan Manufacturing PMI reported a value of 53.
Annabel Fiddes, principle economist at IHS Markit, which compiles the Nikkei survey, said export sales rose for the 27th month in a row and at a solid pace, suggesting that external demand remained robust.
Other sub-index data hinted at the possibility of a growth slowdown in the months ahead, Fiddes said.
Firms are less optimistic about their business outlook for the next six to 12 months, weighed by the ongoing US-China trade dispute, both surveys found.
In related developments, the non-manufacturing index (NMI) last month stayed above the neutral threshold at 52.6, although it shed 4.4 points from a month earlier, the CIER said in a separate survey.
Despite continued improvement, firms in the hospitality, construction, financial and insurance sectors have a dim view of the six-month business outlook, the NMI report showed.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new
RSS