Sales in the wholesale sector last month rose 3.4 percent year-on-year to NT$1.036 trillion (US$33.27 billion), after declining for 12 consecutive months, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
The wholesale sector’s sales growth returned to positive territory thanks to an increase in demand for machinery equipment, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, as well as automobiles and motorcycles, compared with a year earlier, the ministry said in a report.
In addition, the growing demand for artificial intelligence applications helped minimize the impact of weakening demand for consumer electronics devices, it said.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
However, the sector might experience relatively flat annual sales growth this month, as end-market demand remains weak and customers are tending to be conservative about placing orders, the report said.
The wholesale sector’s cumulative sales in the first 11 months of this year fell 7.8 percent year-on-year to NT$10.74 trillion, while sales for this month are estimated to either fall 1.4 percent or rise 1.6 percent annually to between NT$1.037 trillion and NT$1.069 trillion, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, sales in the retail sector last month increased 7.3 percent year-on-year to NT$411.9 billion, rising for 27 consecutive months to hit the highest level for the same month, the report said, citing factors such as department store anniversary sales and the Double 11 Singles' Day online shopping festival.
As for the food and beverage sector, sales last month climbed 8 percent to NT$81.3 billion, marking the 19th straight month of increase but decelerating from the previous month's 11.1 percent growth, it said.
The retail and food and beverage sectors’ growth momentum would continue this month as consumer spending is expected to increase during the festive season, while auto dealers are adopting aggressive promotional campaigns and firms are holding banquets for their employees, the report said.
In addition, the diffusion index compiled by the ministry — a gauge of firms’ sales expectations for the following month — rose to 50.8 for the retail sector and 75.4 for the food and beverage sector, both of which were above the threshold of 50 suggesting a positive outlook.
In the first 11 months of this year, retail sales rose 7.5 percent from a year earlier to NT$4.17 trillion, the highest for the period, the ministry said, adding that it expects retail sales to grow between 2.8 and 5.8 percent annually to between NT$414.1 billion and NT$426.2 billion this month.
Food and beverage sales totaled NT$933.6 billion over the 11 months, up 20 percent year-on-year and also the highest for the period, while sales this month are projected to grow 3 to 6 percent annually to between NT$90.2 billion and NT$92.8 billion, it said.
The US dollar was trading at NT$29.7 at 10am today on the Taipei Foreign Exchange, as the New Taiwan dollar gained NT$1.364 from the previous close last week. The NT dollar continued to rise today, after surging 3.07 percent on Friday. After opening at NT$30.91, the NT dollar gained more than NT$1 in just 15 minutes, briefly passing the NT$30 mark. Before the US Department of the Treasury's semi-annual currency report came out, expectations that the NT dollar would keep rising were already building. The NT dollar on Friday closed at NT$31.064, up by NT$0.953 — a 3.07 percent single-day gain. Today,
‘SHORT TERM’: The local currency would likely remain strong in the near term, driven by anticipated US trade pressure, capital inflows and expectations of a US Fed rate cut The US dollar is expected to fall below NT$30 in the near term, as traders anticipate increased pressure from Washington for Taiwan to allow the New Taiwan dollar to appreciate, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) chief economist Lin Chi-chao (林啟超) said. Following a sharp drop in the greenback against the NT dollar on Friday, Lin told the Central News Agency that the local currency is likely to remain strong in the short term, driven in part by market psychology surrounding anticipated US policy pressure. On Friday, the US dollar fell NT$0.953, or 3.07 percent, closing at NT$31.064 — its lowest level since Jan.
The New Taiwan dollar and Taiwanese stocks surged on signs that trade tensions between the world’s top two economies might start easing and as US tech earnings boosted the outlook of the nation’s semiconductor exports. The NT dollar strengthened as much as 3.8 percent versus the US dollar to 30.815, the biggest intraday gain since January 2011, closing at NT$31.064. The benchmark TAIEX jumped 2.73 percent to outperform the region’s equity gauges. Outlook for global trade improved after China said it is assessing possible trade talks with the US, providing a boost for the nation’s currency and shares. As the NT dollar
PRESSURE EXPECTED: The appreciation of the NT dollar reflected expectations that Washington would press Taiwan to boost its currency against the US dollar, dealers said Taiwan’s export-oriented semiconductor and auto part manufacturers are expecting their margins to be affected by large foreign exchange losses as the New Taiwan dollar continued to appreciate sharply against the US dollar yesterday. Among major semiconductor manufacturers, ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光), the world’s largest integrated circuit (IC) packaging and testing services provider, said that whenever the NT dollar rises NT$1 against the greenback, its gross margin is cut by about 1.5 percent. The NT dollar traded as strong as NT$29.59 per US dollar before trimming gains to close NT$0.919, or 2.96 percent, higher at NT$30.145 yesterday in Taipei trading
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