Sales in the nation’s manufacturing industry reached a new high in the fourth quarter of last year on rising demand for emerging technologies and robust demand, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
Sales posted by local manufacturers, including their overseas facilities, in the fourth quarter totaled NT$9.25 trillion (US$318.84 billion), up 13.9 percent from a year earlier and the highest fourth-quarter figure, ministry data showed.
For the whole of last year, the manufacturing industry posted sales of NT$32.8 trillion, up 19.3 percent from 2020, the data showed.
The record sales reflected demand for emerging technologies such as 5G applications, high-performance computing devices, automotive electronics and cloud data services, which helped drive sales in information technology and electronics, the ministry said.
Old economy industries such as chemical, steel and machinery manufacturers also posted double-digit-percentage sales growth in the fourth quarter, driven by robust demand from end users amid steady improvement in the global economy, it said.
The manufacturers increased investment in new factories and production expansion, with investment in fixed assets hitting a fourth-quarter high of NT$588.1 billion, up 36.9 percent from a year earlier, it said.
The manufacturing industry last year invested a record NT$1.92 trillion in fixed assets, an annual increase of 31 percent, it added.
In the fourth quarter, the new fixed assets category was topped by investment in machinery and related items, which rose 38.2 percent year-on-year to NT$482.7 billion and accounted for 82.1 percent of the category, followed by housing and construction, which rose 33 percent to NT$101.6 billion and made up 17.3 percent of the category.
In the manufacturing industry, the electronic components sector invested NT$403.5 billion in fixed assets in the quarter, up 51.5 percent year-on-year and accounting for 68.6 percent of the category, ministry data showed.
Investment in production expansion by manufacturers is likely to continue, as capital spending by semiconductor firms has risen, spurring more local investment by domestic and foreign manufacturers in the global supply chain.
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