Taiwan’s industrial production last month rose 5.07 percent from a year earlier, as local technology firms benefited from strong demand for electronic components used in artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing applications, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
Industrial production measures the change in the value of output produced by the local manufacturing, mining and utilities sectors.
Last month, the industrial production index was 96.31, with manufacturing output — which accounted for 95.29 percent of the industrial production index — rising 5.29 percent to 96.4, up for the 11th consecutive month to the second highest in history, it said.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
The strong showing came as robust demand for AI and high-performance computing applications, and big data centers offset fewer working days linked to the Lunar New Year, Department of Statistics Deputy Director-General Huang Wei-chieh (黃偉傑) said.
Within the technology space, electronic components output increased 16.67 percent year-on-year, while production in the IC sector surged 22.92 percent to an all-time high, the ministry said.
The rapid growth was the result of a sustained expansion in 12-inch wafer foundry production, as US technology giants showed keen demand for chips used in high-performance computing and AI applications, it said.
As AI grows increasingly prevalent and demand for Web-based services rises, more investment would flow to the semiconductor industry, it said.
That explained why the production index for computer, electronics and optical products rose 14.78 percent to a record high, indicating that local AI server suppliers operated during the Lunar New Year holiday to meet demand, the ministry said.
While tech firms thrived, non-tech companies took a hit from reduced working days, low-price competition from overseas and production maintenance, it said.
Output for basic metals, chemicals and fertilizers, machinery equipment, and vehicles and auto parts all fell, with annual decreases of 2.1 to 27.2 percent, it said.
AI-driven demand is expected to lend further support to technology products, Huang said, adding that this month’s manufacturing production index is forecast to grow between 18.6 and 23.7 percent.
For the first two months of the year, growth is expected to range from 11.4 percent to 13.8 percent, meaning that the seasonal weakness in the first quarter might not be conspicuous, Huang said.
Non-tech products could also contribute with their slowdown stabilizing, the ministry said.
However, Huang declined to speculate on the timeline of recovery for non-tech sectors, saying it would depend on when the spillover effect of China’s overproduction ends.
MANAGING RISKS: Taiwan has secured LNG sufficient to cover 95 percent of electricity demand for next month, UBS said, describing the government’s approach as proactive UBS Group AG has raised its forecast for Taiwan’s economic growth this year to 8 percent, up from 6.9 percent previously, and said expansion could reach as high as 8.6 percent if external energy shocks are avoided. The upgrade reflects a stronger-than-expected first-quarter performance and sustained momentum in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven exports, which UBS said are providing a firm foundation for growth despite geopolitical and energy risks. Taiwan’s GDP expanded 13.69 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, the fastest growth since the second quarter of 1987, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) reported on Thursday. On a seasonally
The Fair Trade Commission’s (FTC) ongoing review of Grab Holdings Ltd’s US$600 million acquisition of Foodpanda Taiwan’s operations, announced on March 23, has taken on fresh urgency as industry experts warn that the transaction could embed significant Chinese cybersecurity vulnerabilities into Taiwan’s digital infrastructure through Grab’s deep ties to autonomous-driving firm WeRide (文遠知行). Less than 16 months after the FTC blocked Uber Eats’ direct attempt to acquire Foodpanda Taiwan — citing potential combined market shares of 80 to 90 percent — the emergence of Grab as the buyer has prompted questions about whether the same competitive harm is simply being rerouted
The list of Asian stocks that benefit from business partnership with Nvidia Corp is getting longer, as the region further integrates into the artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant’s business ecosystem. Just in the past week, South Korea’s LG Electronics Inc, Taiwan’s Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技), as well as China’s Huizhou Desay SV Automotive Co (德賽西威) and Pateo Connect Technology Shanghai Corp (博泰車聯) have become the latest to rally on news of tie-ups, supply-chain participation or product collaboration with the US chip designer. Asian suppliers account for about 90 percent of Nvidia’s production costs, up from about 65 percent last year, data compiled
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is seeking government approval for an advanced wafer fab at the Longtan (龍潭) campus of Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區), the park's bureau said today. In a written reply, the Hsinchu Science Park Bureau said it would submit a proposal for the third phase of the Longtan Science Park (龍潭科學園區), including plans for a TSMC fab, later this month to the National Science and Technology Council for review. The contract chipmaker previously bid to build a fab using a process more advanced than its current 2-nanometer (nm) technology at the Longtan Campus, but the plan was shelved
RSS