Local manufacturers invested NT$429.1 billion (US$15.5 billion) in fixed assets last quarter, 24.5 percent more than a year earlier, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
Most of the fixed assets were on manufacturing equipment to cope with surging worldwide demand, it said.
The figure represented a quarterly increase of 4.7 percent and marked a record for the second quarter, ministry data showed.
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About 80.2 percent of the fixed asset investments were for machinery and miscellaneous equipment, up 26.8 percent year-on-year, while building facilities accounted for 18.9 percent, up 16.4 percent year-on-year, it showed.
The investments do not include spending on land.
The ministry attributed the growth to the continued investments of major semiconductor companies and the return of Taiwanese firms to expand their domestic manufacturing, as well as the increase of localized supply chains for the offshore wind energy industry.
Electronic component manufacturers have increased investments by 32.5 percent year-on-year to NT$285.4 billion last quarter, making up the biggest portion, or 66.5 percent, of the overall manufacturing sector, the ministry said.
The chemical materials sector increased fixed assets investments by 34.3 percent annually to NT$26 billion, marking the highest since the second quarter of 2014, it said.
Computer and optoelectronics companies grew investments by 8.6 percent year-on-year to NT$13.7 billion to expand facilities and capacity, it added.
The ministry said that the nation’s manufacturing sector’s revenue rose 23.9 percent annually to NT$7.91 trillion last quarter, which is a second-quarter record when revenue from overseas facilities are included, the ministry said.
The ministry attributed the revenue expansion to continuing demand for 5G-related devices and equipment, high-performance computing devices and automotive electronics.
Stable growth in the global economy also boosted annual growth for local chemical products, steel, machinery and vehicles by 20 percent during the April-to-June period, the ministry said.
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