Taiwan’s official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) was 53.7 last month, marking a second consecutive month of expansion, although it slowed from 55.4 a month earlier, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday.
The index, which seeks to gauge the health of the nation’s manufacturing industry, remained in robust territory, despite a mild slowdown that had to do with lingering concerns about geopolitical tensions and production cost increases, CIER acting chairman Wang Jiann-chyuan (王健全) told a news conference in Taipei.
PMI values of 50 or higher indicate expansion and figures below the threshold suggest contraction.
Photo: CNA
“Short and rush orders continued to prevail,” reflecting the cautious approach of customers at home and abroad in dealing with uncertainty, Wang said, citing a monthly survey of local firms.
The sub-index on inventory rose an insignificant 0.2 points to 49.4, while clients’ inventory rose 1 point to 43.1, although almost all sectors reported an increase in business, except for transportation tool makers, as they took a hit from US tax hikes on imported vehicles from China, CIER said.
Heightened US-China trade tensions prompted automakers in China to become more conservative about inventory buildup, which was unfavorable for Taiwanese suppliers of vehicle parts, Wang said.
Artificial intelligence (AI) remained the main growth driver, bolstering the readings on new business orders and industrial output to 59.2 and 56.4 respectively, although both dropped 4.6 points from a month earlier, the survey showed.
Semiconductor firms fared better than electronics makers and the trend would continue until the AI boom spreads from data centers and cloud services to downstream technology products, such as smartphones and personal computers, Wang said.
At the same time, the reading on employment gained 0.9 points to 51.2, indicating that firms largely relied on improving efficiency to meet business needs, rather than hiring new workers, the survey said.
The gauge on raw material prices declined 5.6 points to 60.5, remaining at a high level that would cause profit erosion, Wang said.
However, all manufacturing sectors remained positive about their business prospects due to the arrival of the high sales season, as the six-month outlook measure was 59.2, although it declined from 60.1 in May, the survey showed.
The non-manufacturing sector’s business gauge rose 4.4 points to 58.6, expanding for 20 months, thanks in part to TAIEX rallies that led investors to enjoy wealth gains, Wang said, adding that financial service providers were the biggest beneficiary.
That euphoria might extend into the summer, when overseas and domestic tourism companies embrace their peak season, Wang said.
That explained why the reading on the six-month outlook remained elevated at 61.5, with all sectors expecting business gains ahead, the survey showed.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to remain Apple Inc’s primary chip manufacturing partner despite reports that Apple could shift some orders to Intel Corp, industry experts said yesterday. The comments came after The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Apple and Intel had reached a preliminary agreement following more than a year of negotiations for Intel to manufacture some chips for Apple devices. Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (台灣經濟研究院) economist Arisa Liu (劉佩真) said TSMC’s advanced packaging technologies, including integrated fan-out and chip-on-wafer-on-substrate, remain critical to the performance of Apple’s A-series and M-series chips. She said Intel and Samsung
POWER BUILDUP: Powered by Nvidia’s B200 Blackwell chips, the data center would support MediaTek’s computing power demand and business growth, the company said Smartphone chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday launched a new artificial intelligence (AI) data center with a maximum capacity of 45 megawatts to meet its rising demand for computing power required to develop new advanced chips for AI applications. The company has completed the first-phase computing power buildup at the data center in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼), providing 15 megawatts of capacity to support its research and development (R&D) capabilities, despite an industrywide shortage of key components, MediaTek said. Supply constraints have plagued a wide range of key components, including memory chips, solid-state drives, power supply units and central
IMAGE SENSORS: The Japanese company would be the controlling shareholder of the venture, with development and production lines to be set up in Kumamoto Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said it has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corp to create a joint venture to develop and produce next-generation images sensors. The partnership seeks to explore and address emerging opportunities in physical artificial intelligence (AI) applications, such as automotive and robotics, paving the way for innovations and expanded technological advancements, TSMC said in a statement. Sony would be the majority and controlling shareholder of the joint venture, the statement said, adding that the company would set up development and production lines in its newly constructed fab in Kumamoto Prefecture’s
The nation’s foreign exchange reserves climbed back above US$600 billion at the end of last month, as investment gains, currency valuation effects and renewed foreign inflows offset volatility seen earlier in the month, the central bank said yesterday. Reserves stood at US$602.49 billion, up US$5.6 billion from the previous month, the central bank said. The rebound reflected returns on reserve assets, fluctuations in major currencies against the US dollar and the central bank’s market operations aimed at maintaining orderly trading conditions, Department of Foreign Exchange Director-General Eugene Tsai (蔡炯民) said. Financial markets were volatile early last month, with foreign investors recording net purchases
RSS