The climate monitor for the nation’s manufacturing sector in December last year was “blue” for the second consecutive month, as global inflation and interest rate hikes lowered demand and prices for most products, the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) said yesterday.
The TIER business composite index shed 0.24 points to 9.48, indicating a recessionary state, after the sub-indices on demand and selling prices weakened, but the readings for operating conditions, costs and raw material prices improved marginally, the Taipei-based think tank said.
Major customers continued to adjust inventory to cope with soft end-market demand amid a global economic slowdown and monetary tightening, the institute said, adding that Taiwan’s latest exports and export orders declined by double-digit percentage points for two months in a row.
Photo: Ann Wang, REUTERS
China’s recent scrapping of COVID-19 restrictions increased infections in the country, disrupting supply chains, but fueling hopes for a fast recovery, it said.
TIER uses a five-color spectrum to capture the industry’s movements, with “red” indicating a boom, “green” suggesting a steady state and “blue” signifying a downturn. Dual colors indicate a transition to a better or worse condition.
The number of firms in business decline jumped from 59.04 percent in November last year to 73.63 percent in December, and none reported a boom, TIER said.
Demand for electronics used in high-performance computing and electric vehicles remained solid, but sales of smartphones and notebook computers stalled, as global consumers cut back spending on technology gadgets, it said, adding that it caused the business climate for the sector, which is the main export driver, to signal “blue.”
The climate monitor for petrochemical and plastic sectors was also “blue,” as labor shortages in China deteriorated due to spiking virus infections, the institute said.
Firms generally reported a retreat in business, and grew conservative in input and inventory management, it said.
Suppliers of necessity goods such as paper and textile products fell from the “yellow-blue” to “blue” state, as firms wrote off inventory losses to reflect poor demand and selling prices, TIER said.
Makers of metal products continued to struggle with sluggish demand even after major global players cut capacity to ease the imbalance between supply and demand, it said.
Machine equipment vendors held particularly gloomy views, as soft global economic outlook prompted customers to be frugal about buying capital equipment, it said.
Auto parts suppliers said they also took a hit from an overall decline in purchases of durable goods.
The number of new vehicle plates increased by 3.84 percent to 41,900, as consumers sought to avoid price hikes by major vehicle brands this year, rather than a recovery in the business, they said.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) revenue jumped 48 percent last month, underscoring how electronics firms scrambled to acquire essential components before global tariffs took effect. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp reported monthly sales of NT$349.6 billion (US$11.6 billion). That compares with the average analysts’ estimate for a 38 percent rise in second-quarter revenue. US President Donald Trump’s trade war is prompting economists to retool GDP forecasts worldwide, casting doubt over the outlook for everything from iPhone demand to computing and datacenter construction. However, TSMC — a barometer for global tech spending given its central role in the
Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designer specializing in server chips, expects revenue to decline this year due to sagging demand for 5-nanometer artificial intelligence (AI) chips from a North America-based major customer, a company executive said yesterday. That would be the first contraction in revenue for Alchip as it has been enjoying strong revenue growth over the past few years, benefiting from cloud-service providers’ moves to reduce dependence on Nvidia Corp’s expensive AI chips by building their own AI accelerator by outsourcing chip design. The 5-nanometer chip was supposed to be a new growth engine as the lifecycle