The business climate monitor for the manufacturing industry turned “blue” in March, from a revised “yellow-blue” in February, as demand, selling prices and operating conditions weakened, the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) said yesterday.
The business composite index compiled by the Taipei-based think tank shed 0.56 points to 10.41, reflecting listless manufacturing activity, as global clients continued to adjust inventory amid poor sales.
TIER uses a five-color spectrum to capture the industry’s movements, with “red” indicating a boom, “green” suggesting steady growth and “blue” signifying a downturn. Dual colors indicate a transition to a better or worse condition.
Photo: CNA
Taiwan is home to the world’s leading suppliers of electronics used in smartphones, personal computers, wearables, TVs, vehicles and cloud computing.
A majority of local manufacturers, 51.75 percent, reported a decline in business, while 35.51 percent experienced a soft patch and 12.16 percent held steady, the institute’s monthly survey found.
None experienced a boom, it added.
The findings came even though firms in Taiwan and Asia emerged unscathed from bank failures in the US and Europe, TIER said.
The cost and input readings gained a meager 0.17 and 0.07 points respectively after the global economic slowdown cooled raw material prices and eased cost burdens, the institute said.
However, the gauges for demand, selling prices and overall operating conditions declined further, as inventory corrections dragged on, prompting local manufacturers to cut capacity to protect their margins.
For instance, petrochemical product suppliers opted to conduct annual equipment maintenance after outbound shipments and orders tumbled more than 30 percent from a year earlier, TIER said.
Plastic and rubber product makers saw business shrinking by a similar amount, despite the peak season starting, the institute said.
Tepid market demand in the US and Europe was to blame, but China added to the problem by cutting its dependence on one-off plastic products, it said.
Makers of textile products, while benefiting from rush orders in the wake of China’s reopening, saw sharper declines in production and business orders, as apparel brands turned conservative about inventory, it said.
Paper product vendors had a mixed showing, as a recovery in tourism and commerce boosted demand for shopping and packaging bags, but paper products for industrial use floundered, the institute said.
Vehicle sales picked up after chip shortages came to an end, enabling local suppliers of auto parts to report steady business growth, it said.
DIVIDED VIEWS: Although the Fed agreed on holding rates steady, some officials see no rate cuts for this year, while 10 policymakers foresee two or more cuts There are a lot of unknowns about the outlook for the economy and interest rates, but US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled at least one thing seems certain: Higher prices are coming. Fed policymakers voted unanimously to hold interest rates steady at a range of 4.25 percent to 4.50 percent for a fourth straight meeting on Wednesday, as they await clarity on whether tariffs would leave a one-time or more lasting mark on inflation. Powell said it is still unclear how much of the bill would fall on the shoulders of consumers, but he expects to learn more about tariffs
NOT JUSTIFIED: The bank’s governor said there would only be a rate cut if inflation falls below 1.5% and economic conditions deteriorate, which have not been detected The central bank yesterday kept its key interest rates unchanged for a fifth consecutive quarter, aligning with market expectations, while slightly lowering its inflation outlook amid signs of cooling price pressures. The move came after the US Federal Reserve held rates steady overnight, despite pressure from US President Donald Trump to cut borrowing costs. Central bank board members unanimously voted to maintain the discount rate at 2 percent, the secured loan rate at 2.375 percent and the overnight lending rate at 4.25 percent. “We consider the policy decision appropriate, although it suggests tightening leaning after factoring in slackening inflation and stable GDP growth,”
Meta Platforms Inc offered US$100 million bonuses to OpenAI employees in an unsuccessful bid to poach the ChatGPT maker’s talent and strengthen its own generative artificial intelligence (AI) teams, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said. Facebook’s parent company — a competitor of OpenAI — also offered “giant” annual salaries exceeding US$100 million to OpenAI staffers, Altman said in an interview on the Uncapped with Jack Altman podcast released on Tuesday. “It is crazy,” Sam Altman told his brother Jack in the interview. “I’m really happy that at least so far none of our best people have decided to take them
As they zigzagged from one machine to another in the searing African sun, the workers were covered in black soot. However, the charcoal they were making is known as “green,” and backers hope it can save impoverished Chad from rampant deforestation. Chad, a vast, landlocked country of 19 million people perched at the crossroads of north and central Africa, is steadily turning to desert. It has lost more than 90 percent of its forest cover since the 1970s, hit by climate change and overexploitation of trees for household uses such as cooking, officials say. “Green charcoal” aims to protect what
RSS