Taiwan’s consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.48 percent year-on-year last month, marking the sixth consecutive month that inflation has remained below the central bank’s 2 percent target, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) reported yesterday.
However, the pace of increase was slightly faster than September, mainly due to higher recreational service costs during the holiday weekends, the DGBAS said.
Pork prices surged 9.07 percent from a year earlier — the sharpest rise in 20 months — although the impact of the recent African swine fever outbreak has yet to be fully reflected, DGBAS official Tsao Chih-hung (曹志弘) said.
Photo: CNA
“The government has stepped in to stabilize the market so that pork prices would remain stable this month,” Tsao said.
Tsao said that sufficient stocks of chilled and frozen pork cover at least a month of consumption, helping to keep prices steady. Wholesale pork prices have begun to retreat as the supply of fresh pork returned to normal following the lifting of slaughterhouse bans.
Core CPI, which excludes volatile items such as fruit, vegetables and energy to better track long-term price movements, increased 1.84 percent — the highest annual increase in nine months — but has stayed below the 2 percent threshold for 18 consecutive months, signaling overall price stability, the DGBAS said.
“If the weather remains stable, CPI growth this month should be similar to or lower than October’s level,” Tsao said.
Among the CPI’s seven major categories, miscellaneous items posted the largest annual increase of 3.18 percent, led by a 10.65 percent rise in personal accessories such as gold and jewelry and a 2.41 percent increase in personal care service fees. Food prices rose 2.02 percent, buoyed by a 5.43 percent increase in meat prices, although lower vegetable and fruit prices offset some of the gains.
Housing costs increased 2 percent, driven primarily by higher rent, household management fees and electricity bills.
Education and recreation expenses rose 1.44 percent, as extended holidays in October pushed up prices for tour packages and hotel accommodations, alongside a 2.48 percent increase in tutoring and learning fees.
In contrast, the producer price index (PPI) last month fell 3.5 percent from a year earlier, mainly due to lower prices for chemicals, pharmaceuticals, petroleum, basic metals, computers and optical products, the DGBAS said.
For the first 10 months of the year, the CPI grew 1.74 percent, while the PPI declined 1.71 percent from a year earlier, it said.
UNPRECEDENTED PACE: Micron Technology has announced plans to expand manufacturing capabilities with the acquisition of a new chip plant in Miaoli Micron Technology Inc unveiled a newly acquired chip plant in Miaoli County yesterday, as the company expands capacity to meet growing demand for advanced DRAM chips, including high-bandwidth memory chips amid the artificial intelligence boom. The plant in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼), which Micron acquired from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) for US$1.8 billion, is expected to make a sizeable capacity contribution to the company from fiscal 2028, the company said in a statement. It would be an extended production site of Micron’s large-scale manufacturing hub in Taichung, the company said. As the global semiconductor industry is racing to reach US$1 trillion
ABOVE LEGAL REQUIREMENT: The Ministry of Economic Affairs is prepared if LNG supply is disrupted, with more than the legal requirement of 11 days of inventory Taiwan has largely secured liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies through May and arranged about half of June’s supply, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday. Since the Middle East conflict began on Feb. 28, Taiwan’s LNG inventories have remained more than 12 days, exceeding the legal requirement of 11 days, indicating no major supply concerns for domestic gas and electricity, Kung said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei. The ministry aims to increase the figure to 14 days by the end of next year, he said. While one or two LNG or crude oil shipments for May
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings Ltd has applied for regulatory approval to acquire the Taiwan operations of Germany-based Delivery Hero SE's Foodpanda in a deal valued at about US$600 million. Grab submitted the filing to the Fair Trade Commission on Friday last week, with the transaction subject to regulatory review and approval, the company said in a statement yesterday. Its independent governance structure would help foster a healthy and competitive market in Taiwan if the deal is approved, Grab said. Grab, which is listed on the NASDAQ, said in the filing that US-based Uber Technologies Inc holds about 13 percent of
Taiwan’s food delivery market could undergo a major shift if Singapore-based Grab Holdings Ltd completes its planned acquisition of Delivery Hero SE’s Foodpanda business in Taiwan, industry experts said. Grab on Monday last week announced it would acquire Foodpanda’s Taiwan operations for US$600 million. The deal is expected to be finalized in the second half of this year, with Grab aiming to complete user migration to its platform by the first half of next year. A duopoly between Uber Eats and Foodpanda dominates Taiwan’s delivery market, a structure that has remained intact since the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) blocked Uber Technologies Inc’s
RSS