The production value of Taiwan’s semiconductor equipment is likely to grow this year after falling 7.3 percent last year amid strong global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said.
The ministry made the comment last week after reporting that the production value of Taiwan-made semiconductor equipment for the first five months of this year rose by 5.5 percent from a year earlier to NT$62.7 billion (US$1.93 billion).
If the forecast is correct, the production value of Taiwan’s semiconductor equipment would be higher than the NT$149.7 billion last year and stay above the NT$100 million level for the fifth consecutive year.
Photo: AFP
As companies accelerated digital transformation and pursued industrial automation following the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, market demand for semiconductors has been booming in recent years, which has driven semiconductor companies to actively invest in capacity expansion, the ministry said in a statement.
The production value of Taiwan’s semiconductor equipment — composed mainly of manufacturing and inspection equipment, and its related components — surpassed NT$100 billion in 2020, reaching NT$103.1 billion, up 47.3 percent compared with 2019, ministry data showed.
After 2020, production value registered two consecutive years of double-digit percentage growth, but decreased by 7.3 percent annually last year after high inflation and interest rates worldwide, which seriously dented consumer consumption and business investment, the ministry said.
This year, the rise of AI opportunities and strong demand for high-performance computing applications have greatly pushed up the market’s demand for advanced semiconductor processes and boosted the semiconductor equipment sector’s growth momentum from January to May, it said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker and a market leader in terms of advanced technologies, last month told investors that it would hike its capital expenditure budget for this year to between US$30 billion and US$32 billion, compared with its earlier estimate of US$28 billion to US$32 billion.
The production value of semiconductor manufacturing equipment and components returned to positive growth at 6.9 percent in the first five months, after posting an annual decrease of 5.7 percent last year, accounting for 78.5 percent of the overall sales of semiconductor equipment, the ministry said.
Semiconductor inspection equipment and components contributed 21.5 percent to the sector’s total sales in the five-month period, with production value edging up 0.7 percent from a year earlier, the ministry added.
As Taiwanese semiconductor equipment suppliers intensified efforts to explore business opportunities abroad over the past few years, their exports exceeded 50 percent of total shipments for the first time last year, the ministry said.
Exports of semiconductor equipment reached US$1.48 billion in the first half of this year, an 8.2 percent increase from the same period last year, customs data from the Ministry of Finance showed.
China, including Hong Kong, remained the largest destination for Taiwanese equipment exports, accounting for 35.7 percent of the total in the first six months, while Singapore became the second-largest market with 21.2 percent share of Taiwanese exports as the city-state strongly promoted semiconductor investment there, the data showed.
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
i Gasoline and diesel prices at fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.1 per liter, as tensions in the Middle East pushed crude oil prices higher last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week rose for the third consecutive week due to an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, as the market is concerned that the situation in the Middle East might affect crude oil supply, CPC and Formosa said in separate statements. Front-month Brent crude oil futures — the international oil benchmark — rose 3.75 percent to settle at US$77.01
RISING: Strong exports, and life insurance companies’ efforts to manage currency risks indicates the NT dollar would eventually pass the 29 level, an expert said The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rallied to its strongest in three years amid inflows to the nation’s stock market and broad-based weakness in the US dollar. Exporter sales of the US currency and a repatriation of funds from local asset managers also played a role, said two traders, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak publicly. State-owned banks were seen buying the greenback yesterday, but only at a moderate scale, the traders said. The local currency gained 0.77 percent, outperforming almost all of its Asian peers, to close at NT$29.165 per US dollar in Taipei trading yesterday. The
RECORD LOW: Global firms’ increased inventories, tariff disputes not yet impacting Taiwan and new graduates not yet entering the market contributed to the decrease Taiwan’s unemployment rate last month dropped to 3.3 percent, the lowest for the month in 25 years, as strong exports and resilient domestic demand boosted hiring across various sectors, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. After seasonal adjustments, the jobless rate eased to 3.34 percent, the best performance in 24 years, suggesting a stable labor market, although a mild increase is expected with the graduation season from this month through August, the statistics agency said. “Potential shocks from tariff disputes between the US and China have yet to affect Taiwan’s job market,” Census Department Deputy Director Tan Wen-ling