Taipei: Taiwan's manufacturing sector exhibited signs of recovery in November as explosive growth in AI and cloud computing products helped counteract broader market sluggishness, a key monthly index indicated. The composite index for the manufacturing sector increased by 1.70 points to reach 12.32 in November, but it remained in the "yellow-blue" range, signaling overall sluggishness for the third consecutive month, the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) reported Wednesday.
According to Focus Taiwan, the electronic and optical sectors emerged as the primary growth drivers of the index, bolstered by strong demand for AI-related hardware. Both the electronic component and the computer and optical product sectors shifted from "green" lights, which signal stable growth, to "red" lights, indicating booming or overheating conditions.
Export orders for electronic components saw a significant surge, increasing by 47.9 percent year-on-year, while production growth for computer and optical products set new historical records. In contrast, manufacturers in non-high-tech sectors continued to face substantial challenges in November due to global overcapacity and a sluggish recovery in international markets, the TIER noted.
Among the sectors that continued to flash "blue" lights, representing contraction, were the textile, chemical, and basic metals industries. The TIER also highlighted that while the proportion of sectors flashing a red light jumped from zero in October to 22.53 percent in November, the global manufacturing recovery remained fragile.