The industrial production index last month increased by 14.61 percent year-on-year, accelerating from the 4.2 percent growth the previous month, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
Industrial production measures the change in the value of output produced by manufacturers, utilities and mines.
Last month’s increase came as improvements in manufacturing output and electricity and gas supply more than offset setbacks in mining output and water supply, the ministry said in the report.
Photo: CNA
Manufacturing output, which accounted for 95.39 percent of the industrial production index, rose for a second consecutive month, the report said.
It increased by 14.9 percent annually last month, which was in line with the ministry’s estimate of between 11.1 percent and 16.4 percent, the report added.
Among the six major industries in the manufacturing sector, five posted output expansion last month, with the computer and optical products industry reporting the largest increase of 37.14 percent, the ministry said.
It was also the industry’s strongest expansion in 11 years, on the back of strong shipments of servers, computer equipment and components, and handset camera lenses amid rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, cloud data services and mobile phones, it said.
Output of the electronic components industry rose by 23.01 percent last month, the largest increase since August 2021, the ministry said.
The sector is mainly comprised of semiconductors and flat panels, and accounts for 47.32 percent of total manufacturing output.
The increase could be attributed to the growing demand for high-performance computing and AI applications, which boosted foundry companies’ 12-inch fab production, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, integrated circuit designers, DRAM makers, semiconductor testers and printed circuit board suppliers saw a gradual rebound in orders, the ministry added.
As for the three traditional industries, output for chemical materials and fertilizers increased by 5.07 percent, machinery grew by 8.21 percent, and vehicle manufacturing went up by 0.43 percent due to improved market fundamentals and steady inventory replenishment by firms, the report said.
The base metals industry contracted for the third consecutive time last month, with its output falling by 4.41 percent from a year earlier, as the recovery in demand was still weak and the supply of low-priced steel products disrupted market sentiment, the ministry said.
In the first four months of the year, industrial production expanded by 8.11 percent and manufacturing output grew by 8.26 percent from the same period last year, the report said.
The ministry expects the growth momentum in the manufacturing sector to continue in the coming months and predicts that manufacturing output will expand between 6.7 percent and 11.4 percent annually this month.
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