Total industrial production in Taiwan increased about 10 percent in February compared with the same month last year, marking the 25th consecutive month of year-on-year growth, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said Wednesday.
The industrial production index for February rose by 10.01 percent to 117.49, the highest ever for the month.
Meanwhile, the sub-index for the manufacturing sector, which accounts for over 90 percent of the country’s total production, rose by 10.16 percent from a year earlier to 119.76, a historical high for the month and the 25th straight month of year-on-year growth, data compiled by the MOEA showed.
However, on a month-on-month basis, industrial production fell in February by 14.20 percent due to fewer work days with this year’s Lunar New Year holiday partially falling in the month and 228 Peace Memorial Day, a national public holiday, the MOEA said.
The sub-index for the manufacturing sector in February was also down by 14.55 percent from a month earlier, but after seasonal adjustments, industrial production in the month rose by 3.72 percent with the sub-index up 4.80 percent from January, the data indicated.
In February, production of electronic components rose 17.14 percent from a year earlier to 156.71, the 27th consecutive month of double-digit growth.
Huang Wei-chieh (???), deputy director of the MOEA’s Department of Statistics, said the growth can be mainly attributed to strong demand for semiconductor chips for emerging technologies and applications, such as high-performance computing devices, the Internet of Things, and applications in the automotive sector.
The production index for computers, electronic and optical products rose by 9.55 percent from the same month last year to 148.95, which Huang attributed to strong demand for cloud data services and an improvement in raw material supply which boosted production of servers and wireless communications equipment.
In the traditional industries, machinery industry production increased by 11.44 percent from a year earlier to 105.19 as semiconductor suppliers moved to expand production capacity, the MOEA added.
However, production in the base metal and chemical raw material industries in February fell by 1.94 percent and 3.29 percent from a year earlier, respectively, as demand for antivirus preventive devices weakened and major firms underwent annual maintenance.
Looking to the future, Huang said that Taiwan’s industrial production is expected to expand following an increase in vaccination coverage and the lifting of coronavirus lockdowns in major economies which are likely to boost demand for consumer products as well as 5G high-performance computing devices, the Internet of Things and applications in the automotive sector.
The MOEA official forecast that Taiwan’s industrial production index in March will rise 3.4 percent-6.2 percent year-on-year, to between 143.99 and 147.99.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel