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.
SEEKING CLARITY: Washington should not adopt measures that create uncertainties for ‘existing semiconductor investments,’ TSMC said referring to its US$165 billion in the US Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) told the US that any future tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors could reduce demand for chips and derail its pledge to increase its investment in Arizona. “New import restrictions could jeopardize current US leadership in the competitive technology industry and create uncertainties for many committed semiconductor capital projects in the US, including TSMC Arizona’s significant investment plan in Phoenix,” the chipmaker wrote in a letter to the US Department of Commerce. TSMC issued the warning in response to a solicitation for comments by the department on a possible tariff on semiconductor imports by US President Donald Trump’s
‘FAILED EXPORT CONTROLS’: Jensen Huang said that Washington should maximize the speed of AI diffusion, because not doing so would give competitors an advantage Nvidia Corp cofounder and chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) yesterday criticized the US government’s restrictions on exports of artificial intelligence (AI) chips to China, saying that the policy was a failure and would only spur China to accelerate AI development. The export controls gave China the spirit, motivation and government support to accelerate AI development, Huang told reporters at the Computex trade show in Taipei. The competition in China is already intense, given its strong software capabilities, extensive technology ecosystems and work efficiency, he said. “All in all, the export controls were a failure. The facts would suggest it,” he said. “The US
The government has launched a three-pronged strategy to attract local and international talent, aiming to position Taiwan as a new global hub following Nvidia Corp’s announcement that it has chosen Taipei as the site of its Taiwan headquarters. Nvidia cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday last week announced during his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei that the Nvidia Constellation, the company’s planned Taiwan headquarters, would be located in the Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei. Huang’s decision to establish a base in Taiwan is “primarily due to Taiwan’s talent pool and its strength in the semiconductor
French President Emmanuel Macron has expressed gratitude to Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) for its plan to invest approximately 250 million euros (US$278 million) in a joint venture in France focused on the semiconductor and space industries. On his official X account on Tuesday, Macron thanked Hon Hai, also known globally as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), for its investment projects announced at Choose France, a flagship economic summit held on Monday to attract foreign investment. In the post, Macron included a GIF displaying the national flag of the Republic of China (Taiwan), as he did for other foreign investors, including China-based
RSS