The industrial production index rose 7.33 percent year-on-year to 132.7 last month, marking the best April performance, thanks to strong demand for chips used in high-performance computing (HPC) devices, vehicles and Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
Manufacturing, a major contributor to industrial production, jumped 7.5 percent annually to 135.19, landing on the higher end of the ministry’s forecast of 5 to 8.2 percent annual growth.
China’s COVID-19 lockdowns did not have a significant impact on local production, but did affect supply of some components, the ministry said.
Photo: Hung Chen-hung, Taipei Times
Some manufacturers, such as server makers, received rush orders last month, as production in China was disrupted, it said.
“Wider adoption of emerging technologies continued to drive up semiconductor demand in April, and semiconductor companies are expanding capacity to cope with the high demand,” Department of Statistics Deputy Director-General Huang Wei-jie (黃偉傑) said by telephone.
“Rising demand for HPC devices such as servers continued boosting demand for the electronic component segment,” Huang said. “The growth was partly moderated by sagging demand for consumer electronics, such as mobile phones in China.”
The ministry expects the uptrend to extend into this month and forecast robust manufacturing production expansion of between 5.2 percent and 8.3 percent year-on-year to between 137.55 and 144.55, supported mainly by electronic components, computers and other electronics segments.
Electronic component production climbed 17.81 percent annually last month, led by the semiconductor sub-index’s 27.65 percent year-on-year expansion. Display and related products tumbled 14.6 percent year-on-year, ending 24 months of growth.
The production of computers and other electronics grew at an annual pace of 5.48 percent last month, benefiting from robust demand for cloud-enabled servers and relaxed component shortages that helped boost output of computers, routers and network switches.
The petrochemicals sector saw production drop 5.18 percent year-on-year, mainly due to reduced demand for products to counter COVID-19 infections and some clients in China halting production due to lockdowns.
China absorbs about 40 percent of Taiwanese petrochemical exports.
The machinery sector saw production contract 0.97 percent annually, snapping 19 straight months of growth.
The ministry attributed the decline to Chinese customers’ concerns about placing new orders and investments.
Surging raw material costs and transportation costs also affected customers’ willingness to purchase, it said. About 30 percent of machinery tools made in Taiwan are shipped to China.
The production of basic metals dipped 7.12 percent year-on-year last month, as major steelmakers suspended production due to annual maintenance and reduced demand from China.
The production of vehicle and auto components dipped 1.26 percent as chip shortages and stricter requirements for applying for commodity tax refunds depressed demand for new vehicles, Huang said.
“Local auto manufacturers source a lot of their components from China. They said the lockdowns have shut factories and made it even more difficult to secure component supply,” he said.
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