Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month increased 1.6 percent and 0.7 percent respectively from a year earlier, decelerating from rises of 1.9 percent and 10.5 percent the previous month, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
Wholesale sector sales last month grew by 16.2 percent annually, accelerating from a 4.1 percent increase in March, mainly due to strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) technologies, an increase in non-tech goods exports and inventory restocking ahead of Mother’s Day, the ministry said in a report.
Retail, and food and beverage sales this month would continue to increase year-on-year, benefiting from Mother’s Day promotions, seasonal demand for iced beverages and home appliances, and the launch of new vehicle models, the ministry said.
Photo: CNA
The ministry also said it expects wholesale sector sales to grow on an annual basis for the third month in a row, given rising uptake of AI and HPC applications, coupled with restocking demand in preparation for new business opportunities.
Last month, retail sector sales were NT$387.2 billion (US$12.01 billion), the highest April sales, driven mainly by higher consumption at supermarkets and convenience stores, e-commerce sites, cosmetics outlets, automobile vendors and information technology and consumer electronics stores, despite slowing sales at department stores, hypermarket outlets and apparel shops, the report said.
In the first four months of this year, retail sales totaled NT$1.57 trillion, up 3.2 percent from a year earlier, and are expected to grow up to 2.5 percent annually to between NT$389.6 billion and NT$401.3 billion, the ministry said.
Sales in the food and beverage sector reached NT$80 billion last month, as growth in in-flight meals supported catering services and Tomb Sweeping Day increased family gatherings, even though several food safety incidents affected restaurant sales, the report said.
In the first four months, food and beverage sales rose 5 percent year-on-year to NT$344.1 billion, the ministry said, forecasting sales this month would grow 4.5 to 7.5 percent annually to between NT$85.2 billion and NT$87.6 billion.
Wholesale sector sales were NT$1.06 trillion last month on the back of strong demand for machinery equipment, chemical materials, food and tobacco products, and medicines and cosmetics, the report said.
Cumulative sales in the first four months grew 9.5 percent to NT$4.1 trillion, and would rise by 10 to 13 percent annually this month to between NT$1.05 trillion and NT$1.07 trillion, the ministry said.
EXPLOSION: A driver who was transporting waste material from the site was hit by a blunt object after an uncontrolled pressure release and thrown 6m from the truck Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) said yesterday there was no damage to its facilities after an incident at its Arizona factory construction site where a waste disposal truck driver was transported to hospital. Firefighters responded to an explosion on Wednesday afternoon at the TSMC plant in Phoenix, the Arizona Republic reported, citing the local fire department. Cesar Anguiano-Guitron, 41, was transporting waste material from the project site and stopped to inspect the tank when he was made aware of a potential problem, a police report seen by Bloomberg News showed. Following an “uncontrolled pressure release,” he was hit by a blunt
ASML Holding NV and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) have ways to disable the world’s most sophisticated chipmaking machines in the event that China invades Taiwan, people familiar with the matter said. Officials from the US government have privately expressed concerns to both their Dutch and Taiwanese counterparts about what happens if Chinese aggression escalates into an attack on the nation responsible for producing the vast majority of the world’s advanced semiconductors, two of the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity. ASML reassured officials about its ability to remotely disable the machines when the Dutch government met with the company
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), which makes servers and laptop computers on a contract basis, yesterday said it expects artificial intelligence (AI) devices to bring explosive growth to Taiwan’s electronics industry, as AI applications are starting to run on edge devices such as AI PCs. Taiwanese electronics manufacturers such as chipmakers, component suppliers and hardware assemblers are likely to benefit from a rapid uptake of AI applications, Mike Yang (楊麒令), president of Quanta Cloud Technology Inc (雲達科技), a server manufacturing arm of Quanta, told reporters on the sidelines of a technology forum in Taipei yesterday. “I believe the growth potential is promising once
RETALIATION: Beijing is investigating Taiwan, the EU, the US and Japan for dumping, following probes of its market, as well as tariff hikes on its imports The Chinese Ministry of Commerce yesterday said it had launched a dumping investigation into imports of an important engineering chemical from Taiwan, the EU, the US and Japan. It would probe imports of polyoxymethylene copolymer, a thermoplastic used in many precision parts used in phones, auto parts and medical equipment, the Chinese commerce ministry said. The ministry is reviewing materials provided by six Chinese companies that applied for assistance on behalf of the industry on April 22, it said. The probe will target polyformaldehyde copolymer imported from suppliers in the EU, the US, Taiwan and Japan last year, and will assess any damage