Sales in the wholesale sector last month rose 3.4 percent year-on-year to NT$1.036 trillion (US$33.27 billion), after declining for 12 consecutive months, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
The wholesale sector’s sales growth returned to positive territory thanks to an increase in demand for machinery equipment, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, as well as automobiles and motorcycles, compared with a year earlier, the ministry said in a report.
In addition, the growing demand for artificial intelligence applications helped minimize the impact of weakening demand for consumer electronics devices, it said.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
However, the sector might experience relatively flat annual sales growth this month, as end-market demand remains weak and customers are tending to be conservative about placing orders, the report said.
The wholesale sector’s cumulative sales in the first 11 months of this year fell 7.8 percent year-on-year to NT$10.74 trillion, while sales for this month are estimated to either fall 1.4 percent or rise 1.6 percent annually to between NT$1.037 trillion and NT$1.069 trillion, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, sales in the retail sector last month increased 7.3 percent year-on-year to NT$411.9 billion, rising for 27 consecutive months to hit the highest level for the same month, the report said, citing factors such as department store anniversary sales and the Double 11 Singles' Day online shopping festival.
As for the food and beverage sector, sales last month climbed 8 percent to NT$81.3 billion, marking the 19th straight month of increase but decelerating from the previous month's 11.1 percent growth, it said.
The retail and food and beverage sectors’ growth momentum would continue this month as consumer spending is expected to increase during the festive season, while auto dealers are adopting aggressive promotional campaigns and firms are holding banquets for their employees, the report said.
In addition, the diffusion index compiled by the ministry — a gauge of firms’ sales expectations for the following month — rose to 50.8 for the retail sector and 75.4 for the food and beverage sector, both of which were above the threshold of 50 suggesting a positive outlook.
In the first 11 months of this year, retail sales rose 7.5 percent from a year earlier to NT$4.17 trillion, the highest for the period, the ministry said, adding that it expects retail sales to grow between 2.8 and 5.8 percent annually to between NT$414.1 billion and NT$426.2 billion this month.
Food and beverage sales totaled NT$933.6 billion over the 11 months, up 20 percent year-on-year and also the highest for the period, while sales this month are projected to grow 3 to 6 percent annually to between NT$90.2 billion and NT$92.8 billion, it said.
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