The nation’s industrial production index fell 6.72 percent year-on-year to 89.6 last month, dropping for a 16th consecutive month on an annual basis, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
On a monthly basis, the index fell 1.65 percent as the global economy remained weak and a recovery in end-market demand was slow, the ministry said in a report.
The industrial production index gauges output in Taiwan’s four main industries: manufacturing, electricity and gas supply, water supply, and mining and quarrying.
Photo: CNA
The manufacturing production index, which contributed 95.41 percent to the industrial production index, dropped 7.01 percent annually to 88.81 last month — also the 16th consecutive month of annual declines, and also falling 1.65 percent from the previous month, the report said.
The production index for electricity and gas supply rose 2.1 percent from a year earlier, while the indices for water supply, and mining and quarrying were down by 2.39 percent and 15.88 percent respectively, the report said.
In the first nine months of this year, the industrial and manufacturing production indices fell 15.48 percent and 16.07 percent year-on-year respectively, the data showed.
The electronic components industry, which accounts for 49.57 percent of total manufacturing production, posted an annual decline of 9.38 percent in output last month, as a slump in semiconductor production offset the improvement in flat-panel production, the report said.
In the first nine months, the production of electronic components fell 21.92 percent from a year earlier, it said.
The machinery industry reported the largest output decline of 14.44 percent last month, as firms remained conservative regarding capital investment, which weighed on demand for semiconductor production equipment, linear guideways, electronic production equipment and special machinery items.
From January to last month, machinery goods production contracted 18.77 percent from the same period last year, the report said.
However, the output of the computer, electronics and optical products sector continued to rise last month, up 3.93 percent for a third consecutive month of annual increase, the report said.
The ministry attributed the increase to solid demand for servers, amid growing needs for cloud data services and artificial intelligence applications among companies.
However, slowing production of computer peripherals and components, industrial computers, laptops and other optical components decreased the sector’s output 2.94 percent year-on-year in the first nine months, the report said.
In traditional industries, producers of chemical materials and fertilizers last month posted a 0.43 percent drop in output, while suppliers of base metals reported that their output fell 0.97 percent.
Compared with the same period last year, the output of these two industries fell 14.28 percent and 12.01 percent respectively during the nine-month period, the report said.
The automobile and auto parts industry was a standout again among traditional industries, with output rising 0.53 percent year-on-year last month and increasing 1.55 percent in the first nine months, mainly due to strong sales of several new vehicle models and rising orders for auto parts, it said.
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