The downturn in Taiwan’s manufacturing industry eased last month while service-oriented firms saw a solid boost, fueling hope that the negative impact from the COVID-19 pandemic might have touched bottom, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday.
The official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) came in at 47.2 last month, up 2.4 points from 44.8 one month earlier, indicating a milder contraction.
PMI scores of lower than 50 signify a decline, while those above the threshold indicate expansion. The latest data signified a third straight month of retreat.
“The pace of decline flattened in June, a positive development for manufacturers,” CIER president Chang Chuang-chang (張傳章) told a media briefing.
Suppliers of electronics, chemicals and biotechnological products bounced back to positive territory, while makers of food and textile products approached the neutral mark, Chang said.
However, companies selling electrical machinery, basic materials and transportation tools saw business stall, he said.
The pandemic has lent support to companies that supply test kits, masks, and electronic components used in remote learning and working, as well as 5G wireless technology, Chang said.
The sub-index on new business orders picked up significantly from 35.9 to 42.6, while the reading on industrial output rose from 36.8 to 45.3, the CIER’s monthly report showed.
The sub-index on employment hovered at similar levels of 45.2, up from 43.3, suggesting firms shed more headcount to cope with a soft patch.
The gauge on delivery time stayed high at 53.4, as border controls around the world slowed transportation, it said.
Raw material prices jumped by 10.9 points to 57.9 after oil exporting nations practiced restraint and cut supply, it said.
Companies are now more confident about the business outlook, as the sub-index on business prospects for the coming six months rose from 30.8 to 44.1, the survey found.
Chang said it is too early to talk about a recovery, with virus infections soaring in many parts of the world, casting a cloud over Taiwan’s exports.
The non-manufacturing index sent an encouraging signal at 54.4, rising from 45.2 and ending four months of declines, the report said.
The return to normalcy drove the uptick across the board and the forthcoming Triple Stimulus Vouchers would add heat to domestic trips, Chang said.
Companies in different service sectors expect the landscape to brighten ahead, with the six-month business gauge rising from 33.5 to 51.7, the report said.
However, the boom might prove short-lived if service providers rely only on stimulus measures and fail to improve service quality, Chang said.
Poland is betting on a flood of investments and technology transfers from Taiwanese companies to reengineer its US$1 trillion economy. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said yesterday that Poland will no longer be “just an assembly hub” as it pursues further investments from the likes of Foxconn Technology Group (富士康). The firm, whose full name is Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), last month agreed to build electric vehicles (EVs) in the European Union nation and now could be a partner in a semiconductor venture, he said. The government’s aim is to boost manufacturing and the country’s high-tech chops in an era
Taiwan remained the sixth-largest net creditor nation in the world last year, despite a fall of more than 10 percent in its net international investment position (NIIP) over the year, the central bank said yesterday. The NIIP is the difference between a country’s external financial assets and its external financial liabilities. Taiwan’s external financial assets hit US$3.27 trillion at the end of last year, up US$275.75 billion or 9.2 percent from a year earlier, the central bank said in its annual NIIP report. The growth largely reflected an increase in holdings of overseas marketable securities by residents in Taiwan, as well as a
BAD FAITH LITIGATION? The two companies, owned by a California-based private equity firm, could be seeking licensing fees or a settlement payout with the suit Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) Director-General Liao Cheng-wei (廖承威) said yesterday he suspected that two firms suing contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) for patent infringement are “patent trolls.” A patent troll refers to a company that buys patents not for manufacturing products, but to sue other companies for compensation, accusing them of using its patents. Patent trolls, formally called Non-Practicing Entities or Patent Assertion Entities, were responsible for more than 50 percent of lawsuits in the US last year, costing targeted businesses tens of billions of US dollars a year, according to the US-based LegalCharity Web site. Asked whether
RESTRICTION BREACH: ASML said that it denies ‘unfounded rumors regarding non-compliance with export controls concerning China,’ and enforces controls strictly US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick in a series of recent meetings outlined concerns to Dutch chip-equipment giant ASML Holding NV’s senior leaders that one of its top-of-the-line machines might have made its way into China, in violation of US-led export restrictions. In the meetings, Lutnick expressed concern to ASML executives over the company’s extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) machines, people familiar with the talks said. EUV systems are used by firms such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) to manufacture processors for the likes of Nvidia Corp and Apple Inc. ASML has never been allowed to ship them to China because of curbs
RSS