Taiwan: Industrial output growth improves in May
Industrial output rose 16.5% in year-on-year terms in May, which followed April’s 14.1% increase. Looking at the details of the release, May’s pickup was broad-based. Manufacturing and electricity and gas supply production accelerated, while water supply activity contracted at a softer rate.
On a seasonally-adjusted monthly basis, industrial production rebounded, rising 2.3% in May (April: -0.9% mom). Meanwhile, the trend improved significantly, with the annual average growth of industrial production coming in at plus 9.9%, up from April’s 8.7%.
Delving deeper into the reading, Iris Pang, Greater China economist at ING, painted a nuanced picture:
“Most of the growth came from non-core manufacturing activities, including LED panels, chemical raw materials, equipment and automobile parts, which combined contributed to 39% of total manufacturing production. The core item, and the most important one—integrated circuits—only grew by 12.59% year-on-year, which is below the headline growth rate in May, and also slower than the growth of integrated circuits seen in April, at 16.02% year-on-year.”