Taiwan Manufacturing Expansion Expected This Month

Taiwan's manufacturing activity remained in expansion mode in August on the back of solid global demand, but the Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), which gauges the overall situation in the sector, fell from a month earlier, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER) said.

Photo Insert: Silicon wafer in a die attach machine in a Taiwan plant

Data compiled by CIER, one of the leading think tanks in Taiwan, showed that the local PMI for August fell 3.1 after seasonal adjustments from a month earlier to 62.1, after a 1.2 decline in July.

It was the 10th consecutive month the PMI has been above the 60 point mark, but the pace of the expansion was the slowest this year, the data indicated, Pan Tzu-yu and Frances Huang reported for Central News Agency (CNA).

Amid eased concerns over domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases, the non-manufacturing index (NMI), which covers service sector activity, also fell 3.5 from a month earlier to 56.7 in August. For the PMI and NMI, readings above 50 indicate expansion, while those below 50 represent contraction.

CIER Vice President Yeh Chun-hsiang said manufacturers in a survey conducted by TIER for the August PMI were export-oriented and the latest manufacturing activity data reflects strong global demand.

Among the five major factors in the PMI, only the sub-index on supplier deliveries moved higher by 1.1 from a month earlier to 69.6 in August, CIER said. However, the sub-indexes on new orders, production, employment, and inventories moved lower by 5.5, 4.0, 1.9, and 5.3, respectively, from July to 62.3, 62.9, 58.3, and 57.4 in August, while the four factors remained in expansion mode.

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