Sales generated by Taiwan’s manufacturing sector reached a new quarterly high in the fourth quarter of 2021, largely on rising demand for emerging technologies and strong end-user demand, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said Monday.
Sales posted by manufacturers in Taiwan, including their overseas plants, totaled about NT$9.25 trillion (US$318.84 billion) in the October-December period in 2021, up 13.9 percent from a year earlier and the highest fourth-quarter figure ever, data from the MOEA’s Department of Statistics showed.
For the whole of 2021, the manufacturing industry’s sales were a record NT$32.80 trillion, up by an annual 19.3 percent, according to the data.
The ministry said the record high sales for the fourth quarter of last year largely reflected growing demand for emerging technologies such as 5G applications, high performance computing devices, automotive electronics, and cloud data services, which helped drive sales in the information technology and electronics industries.
Meanwhile, old-economy industries such as chemical, steel and machinery manufacturers also posted double-digit sales growth in the fourth quarter of 2021, which was driven by robust demand from end users amid a steady rise of the global economy, the MOEA said.
According to the ministry, Taiwan’s manufacturing sector also increased its investments in new factories and production expansion.
During the three-month period, the sector’s investment in fixed assets hit a new fourth-quarter high of NT$588.1 billion, up 36.9 percent from a year earlier, the MOEA said.
For the whole of 2021, the manufacturing sector invested a record NT$1.92 trillion in fixed assets, an annual increase of 31 percent, the ministry said.
Investments in machinery and related items rose 38.2 percent year-on-year to NT$482.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021, accounting for 82.1 percent of new fixed assets.
Meanwhile, NT$101.6 billion was invested in housing and construction projects during the three-month period, up 33 percent from a year earlier and accounting for 17.3 percent of total new fixed assets investments.
Among the various sectors, the electronic components industry invested NT$403.5 billion in fixed assets in the fourth quarter, up 51.5 percent year-on-year, which made up 68.6 percent of the total, according to the MOEA data.
For the whole year, that sector’s investments rose by an annual 41.9 percent to NT$1.3277 trillion, the data showed.
Looking ahead, the MOEA said, the manufacturing sector’s investments in production expansion is likely to continue, as the semiconductor industry’s capital spending increases, which will spur further investment in Taiwan by domestic and foreign manufacturing companies that are part of the global supply chain.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel