PMI hits record, but costs pose risk
‘SERIOUS SHORTAGE’: Raw material price hikes are increasing operational costs, while a global shortage of containers has caused at least one firm to lease a shipping vessel
By Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter
Taiwan’s official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month climbed to a new high of 65.1 as business heated up across sectors, but soaring shipping and raw material prices threaten to erode corporate profitability, the Chunghua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday.
“Local firms generally reported strong orders, but continued to complain about container shortages, which are delaying shipments,” CIER researcher Chen Shin-hui (陳馨蕙) said on behalf of the research team.
‘Green’ energy rules take effect
By Angelica Oung / Staff reporter
About 300 of the nation’s biggest corporate users of electricity will be required to boost their use of renewable energy from today, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
The threshold for defining a large user is an electricity account that has a 5,000 kilowatt capacity contract with Taiwan Power Co (台電), the ministry said, adding that 500 accounts belonging to about 300 companies fit the criteria.
Large users are required to boost their use of renewable energy to 10 percent within five years, it said.
Google’s data center at the Changhua Coastal Industrial Park is pictured in an undated photograph. The US company in 2019 announced it was purchasing the output of a 10 megawatt solar array in Tainan, its first renewable energy deal in Asia.
Taiwan s PMI rises to highest level in over 3 years
12/30/2020 02:14 PM
CNA file photo
Taipei, Dec. 30 (CNA) Manufacturing activity in Taiwan expanded for the sixth consecutive month in December, with the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rising to its highest level in more than three years due to an overall expansion in the manufacturing industry, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER) said Wednesday.
According to CIER data, the PMI for December rose 0.1 from a month earlier to 61.3, the highest since March 2017, with the sub-indexes for the six major manufacturing sectors that make up the PMI all rising above 60.
The sub-index on business outlook for the next six months rose 6.5 points from a month earlier to 69.9 in December, the fastest rate of expansion since July 2012, CIER President Chang Chuang-chang (張傳章) said.
PMI increases for sixth straight month
LOGISTICS ISSUES: The subindex on new business orders rose 4.6 points to 69.4, helped by container shortages and shipment disruptions amid COVID-19 lockdowns
By Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter
The official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) this month rose to 61.2, the sixth straight month of gains and the highest since March 2017 as business improved across sectors, the Chunghua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday, adding that it expects the momentum to continue over the next few months.
The PMI readings, which indicate the health of the manufacturing industry, climbed above 60 in every sector, CIER president Chang Chuang-chang (張傳章) told a news conference in Taipei.