Taiwan’s Industrial Production Increases for Eighth Consecutive Month.

Taipei: Taiwan's industrial production rose by more than 8 percent in October from a year earlier, marking the eighth consecutive monthly year-on-year increase, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said Monday. The rise in industrial production last month was primarily driven by the ongoing global demand for emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence applications, high-performance computing devices, and cloud services, which pushed the integrated circuit industry subindex to a record monthly high of 125.64, according to the ministry. According to Focus Taiwan, data released by the MOEA showed the industrial production index for October rose 8.85 percent from a year earlier to 100.6. In October, the sub-index for the manufacturing sector, which accounts for more than 90 percent of total production, rose 9.32 percent from a year earlier to 100.51, also marking the eighth straight monthly increase. In the first 10 months of this year, the industrial production index rose 10.68 percent from a year earlier to 94.07, with the manufacturing sector sub-index surging 11.11 percent to 93.71. In October, production posted by the electronic components industry rose 16.47 percent to a record monthly high of 112.03, with production generated by integrated circuit suppliers up 19.78 percent to 125.64. Solid demand for AI servers is expected to further boost the production sub-index for the IC industry in the coming months, according to Huang Wei-jie, deputy head of the MOEA's Department of Statistics. However, production in the flat panel-making sector fell 6.8 percent from a year earlier in October, marking a third consecutive monthly decline. The computer and optoelectronics industry saw a 4.35 percent year-on-year increase in October, reaching a historic high of 129.45, marking the 16th consecutive monthly increase. As the fourth quarter is a period for new product replacements for servers, some manufacturers have indicated that during this period, AI server production capacity may slow while general-purpose servers see an increase. Due to a high comparison base in the second half of the previous year, AI server production capacity may slow down in the same period this year. However, a survey among manufacturers suggests that momentum for new server products will emerge as soon as December this year, with large-scale production capacity expected in the first quarter of next year. In October, the recovery of the old economy was slower than expected, as the machinery industry posted an 11.06 percent year-on-year surge in production, mainly due to an increase in the production of semiconductor manufacturing equipment and components. Meanwhile, the base metal industry, the chemical material and fertilizer sector, and the auto and auto parts industry saw declines of 3.52 percent, 5.01 percent, and 12.59 percent year-on-year, respectively. Looking ahead, Huang predicted that the manufacturing production sub-index in November is expected to be between 98.08 and 102.08, representing an annual increase of 5.8 percent t o 10.1 percent. To maintain double-digit growth for this year's manufacturing production sub-index, the subindex in November and December must achieve an average 4.9 percent year-on-year increase to 95.96.