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.
After several years flying high as Asia’s best Nvidia Corp proxy, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is increasingly vying with other artificial intelligence (AI) stocks for investor attention. Stock traders are chasing a wider array of beneficiaries as mainstream usage of AI creates demand for hardware beyond the most-advanced chips TSMC makes for Nvidia. Subthemes from the deepening memory crunch to advances in robotics are also luring bids. At the same time, investment caps on single stocks are pushing funds to diversify, while retail investors long familiar with TSMC through its US depositary receipts are being offered a broader set of
UNDER MICROSCOPE: Taiwan detained three people who allegedly conspired to buy servers in Taiwan and export them using fraudulent documentation, prosecutors said Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday urged Super Micro Computer Inc to tighten up on compliance after Taiwan detained three people this week for allegedly making fraudulent declarations about artificial intelligence (AI) servers made by its US partner. The development marked the nation’s first crackdown on semiconductor smuggling, which grew after the US slapped restrictions on exports of high-end chips such as Nvidia AI accelerators to China. Nvidia is “rigorous” in explaining regulations to all of its partners, Huang told reporters after arriving in Taipei. “Ultimately Super Micro has to run their own company,” he said in response to
Netherlands-based semiconductor equipment supplier ASML Holding NV yesterday said that it is planning to hire an additional 1,000 people in Taiwan this year in response to growing demand from clients. ASML had previously planned to recruit 600 people this year, but that the plan has been adjusted upward, ASML vice president and ASML Taiwan general manager Grace Wang (汪佳慧) told reporters. ASML has a workforce of more than 4,500 in Taiwan, accounting for about 10 percent of its global total, Wang said. This year’s recruitment campaign would focus on adding people in the customer support, manufacturing and supply chain domains to assist ASML
TECH RELIANCE: Growth is increasingly reflecting an unequal K-shaped distribution, where technology sectors outperform and other industries struggle, an expert said Standard Chartered Bank has significantly raised its forecast for Taiwan’s economic growth to 9.5 percent this year, up from 7.6 percent previously, citing surging artificial intelligence (AI) demand driving exports, semiconductor production and investment. The upgrade reflects a sustained AI supercycle that continues to fuel demand for advanced chips and technology infrastructure, which form the backbone of Taiwan’s exports, the bank said in a report this week. “We raise our 2026 growth forecast to reflect a much stronger-than-expected first-quarter GDP figure,” Standard Chartered senior economist for greater China and Asia Tommy Wu (胡東安) said in the report. Driven largely by a 35.3 percent
RSS