The Electric Prosperity Index (EPI) released yesterday by the Taiwan Research Institute showed that the nation’s power consumption and economic activity for last month had slightly cooled from June.
The data came as industrial high voltage electricity consumption last month increased 0.34 percent year-on-year, indicating a “warming” economy, in contrast to June’s “booming” signal, the institute said.
The institute also predicted that Taiwan’s economy expanded 3.5 percent year-on-year last month.
Photo: CNA
The institute uses a five-color system to gauge Taiwan’s power consumption and economic activity, with “red” indicating “booming,” “yellow-red” signaling warming, “green” representing stable growth, “yellow-blue” signifying a sluggish economy and “blue” implying an economic contraction.
The overall manufacturing sector’s electricity consumption increased 0.77 percent last month, with the EPI slowing from red to yellow-red, the institute said.
Industry-wise, the semiconductor sectors’ electricity consumption grew 11.01 percent, the highest growth over the past three years, signaling the fourth consecutive month of a booming economy, it said.
That reflected high demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers and advanced process applications, it said.
Also boosted by AI application demand, the computer, electrical and optical products industry saw its electricity usage increase 6.07 percent, continuing its yellow-red signal from the previous month, it said.
However, the chemical materials industry was blue, with electricity consumption falling 5.3 percent, which the institute attributed to surplus supply from China’s petrochemical industry, falling global oil prices, low-priced international competition, a slowing global economy and US tariff policies.
Meanwhile, electricity usage in the steel industry also contracted, falling 9.55 percent, the institute said.
While front-loading ahead of the US tariffs provided temporary benefits to local manufacturers, its effect would gradually diminish as businesses adjust their stocking and shipping schedules, it said.
As a result, electricity usage is forecast to normalize in line with slowing economic growth in the third quarter, it added.
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