GLOBAL IMPACT:
Easing tensions between the US and Iran have helped lower commodity prices and reduce procurement costs for manufacturers, an expert said
By Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter
Taiwan’s factory activity remained firmly in expansion territory last month, supported by robust artificial intelligence (AI)-driven demand, even as supply chain bottlenecks and easing raw material costs tempered the pace of growth, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中經院) said yesterday.The manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) eased to 60.7, from 61.4 a month earlier, remaining well above the 50-point threshold that separates expansion from contraction and marking the ninth consecutive month of growth, the institute said.“If AI demand continues at the current pace, Taiwan’s exports could exceed NT$1 trillion [US$31.37 billion] this year,” CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said at a news conference in Taipei.
People work at an auto-parts plant in Taichung on Sept. 18, 2024.
