Taiwan’s manufacturing output in the fourth quarter last year fell 2.87 percent year-on-year to NT$4.62 trillion (US$146.4 billion) as manufacturers’ investment momentum remained weak and supply chain firms continued inventory adjustments, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a report yesterday.
It was the fifth consecutive quarter of annual decline and followed a fall of 9.01 percent in the third quarter and a decline of 5.79 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022, as firms in the technological and traditional industries faced weakening end-market demand amid a slowdown in the global economy, the report said.
Overall, manufacturing output last year decreased 11.27 percent from a year earlier to NT$17.61 trillion, it said.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
The ministry said it expects the domestic manufacturing sector to see a gradual improvement in output this year thanks to the development of emerging applications related to high-performance computing, artificial intelligence and automotive electronics.
However, the outlook for the sector is still being weighed down by the effects of global inflation and high interest rates, as well as the conflicts between Russia and Ukraine, and between Israel and Hamas, as well as the US-China technology rivalry, the report said.
During the October-to-December quarter, the electronic components industry — the manufacturing sector’s most important segment, with a share of 32.41 percent in its total output — saw production value decrease by 2.04 percent to NT$1.5 trillion, driven mainly by a fall of 1.27 percent in semiconductor industry output to NT$943.8 billion amid weakening demand for electronic products and persistent inventory adjustments, ministry data showed.
Nonetheless, LCD panel makers reported a 9.74 percent annual increase in output to NT$127.9 billion due to higher prices for large panels compared with a year earlier, the report said.
In addition, suppliers of computers and optical products also saw output rise 14.02 percent to NT$356.5 billion due to solid demand for servers and optical lenses for mobile devices, it said.
In traditional industries, producers of machinery equipment last quarter posted an output decline of 10.42 percent year-on-year to NT$226.4 billion, while suppliers of chemical materials and fertilizers reported that their output declined 7.18 percent to NT$373 billion, it said.
Output at makers of base metal products decreased by 3.95 percent to NT$370.4 billion, the report said.
In comparison, the vehicle industry’s output grew 4.31 percent year-on-year to NT$136.8 billion last quarter, the sixth straight quarter of annual increases, on the back of a steady demand for passenger and commercial vehicles, as well as higher shipments of auto components compared with a year earlier, it said.
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