Industrial production last month increased 13.93 percent year-on-year as the traditional and tech sectors saw healthy global demand, the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Department of Statistics said in a report yesterday.
The ministry uses industrial production to gauge output in Taiwan’s five main industries: manufacturing, mining and quarrying, electricity and gas supply, water supply, and architectural engineering.
Manufacturing production, which contributed 90 percent of total industrial production, grew 15.02 percent annually last month, increasing for the 18th month in a row, ministry data showed.
Photo: Wu Chun-feng, Taipei Times
Department of Statistics Deputy Director-General Huang Wei-jie (黃偉傑) said that manufacturing production is often seen as a clear bellwether for Taiwan’s economy, as Taiwan is heavily export orientated.
The machinery equipment and basic metal sectors posted notable production growth last month, up 29.02 and 28.79 percent respectively, reflecting an unusually depressed July last year, and demand from Europe and the US for infrastructure and other projects this year, the report said.
“Infrastructure demand means the countries will need materials to build bridges, etc,” Huang said. “Meanwhile, we are also seeing a lot of factory expansion, which boosts demand for basic metals and machinery goods.”
Automobile and auto parts output grew a robust 22.06 percent annually last month, ministry data showed, but growth in other traditional categories was more modest, with the chemicals industry increasing 9.9 percent and general household products rising 6.49 percent, the ministry said.
Taiwan is known for high-tech products and this sector remained robust throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to increased demand for electronic products.
The electronic components sector’s output was up 16.8 percent year-on-year, while output of the computer, electronic products and optical products sector rose 5.1 percent, ministry data showed.
In the first seven months of the year, industrial production rose 14.46 percent from a year earlier, while manufacturing production increased 15.48 percent.
The ministry forecast that output in the manufacturing sector this month would be higher than last month, as the global economic recovery continues.
The ministry said 10.6 percent of manufacturers it surveyed recently said they expected production to increase from last month, while 75.8 percent said their production would be flat and 13.6 percent said they expected a drop in production.
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