Taiwan’s official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month lost 0.6 points to 50.8, as some firms saw an increase in rush orders, but overall visibility remained foggy, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday.
“The end-market demand proved murky though December is usually the high sales season for technology products,” CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said.
Firms generally stood by a wait-and-see attitude before US president-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated on Jan. 20 and makes clear his trade policy, Lien said.
Photo: RITCHIE B. TONGO, EPA-EFE
PMI data seek to capture the health of the manufacturing industry with points of more than 50 indicate expansion and values below 50 suggest contraction.
The reading on new orders shed 4.6 points to 50.9, as business picked up at most sectors except firms that provide chemical and biotechnology products as well as raw materials, the institute said.
CIER researcher Chen Shin-hui (陳馨蕙) said suppliers of consumer electronics benefitted from rush orders, but noted that rush orders were not broad-based — limited mostly to laptop manufacturers for the US market.
Orders for transportation tools also elevated, but the advance likely had to do with seasonal inventory replenishment rather than a market recovery, Chen said.
Despite the advent of the Lunar New Year, firms remained cautious on concerns of Trump’s tariff policy and China’s stimulus measures, she said.
The measure on inventories fell 1.2 points to 47.4, and the reading on customer inventory held unchanged at 44.5, suggesting conservative practices, the institute said. The gauge on industrial output dropped 2.4 points to 52.1, but the sub-index on employment gained 1.2 points to 51.1, it said.
Firms are also dejected about their business prospects, given that the six-month outlook printed 46.1, down 1.8 points from one month earlier, the institute said.
“Jitters about tariff hikes prevail though the artificial intelligence boom would sustain and benefit Taiwanese firms,” Lien said.
In related developments, the non-manufacturing index last month grew 1.9 points to 56.5, as the gaming industry saw sales improve on the beginning of the winter vacation for universities and colleges, the hospitality facilities received support from year-end parties thrown by companies, and shipping firms benefited from higher freight rates on the back of rerouting needs, the institute said.
Most service providers expect business to thrive over the next six months, although retailers and real-estate brokers disagreed, as the holiday season would soon be over and Taiwanese like to spend money abroad, it said.
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