Taiwan's Ind. Production Growth Hits 11-Month Low of 12.21% in Sept.

Taipei, Oct. 28, 2010 (CENS)--The annual growth of Taiwan's industrial production plummeted 12.21% in September, a new low in 11 months, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).

Market observers attribute the drop to the severe damages on the industrial zones in southern Taiwan by the typhoon Fanapi during the month.

M. N. Tsai, deputy director general at Statistics Department of MOEA, indicated that this year the annual growth of industrial production dropped quarterly, with the percentage standing at 47.23% in the first quarter and tumbling in the second and third quarters to 29.12% and 18.84%, respectively.

Among the industries, machinery equipment showed the highest annual growth of 53.82% in production in September, the fifth consecutive monthly rise of over 50%, due mainly to the transfer of orders to Taiwan by international clients because of the appreciation of the Japanese yen.

In the same month electronic parts experienced the largest fall with corresponding percentage of 15.24%, almost halved from 29.61% recorded a month earlier. Meanwhile, the industry's inventory grew to 42.52% in August from April's 36%.

In the first nine months the annual growth of industrial production came to 30.03% while that of manufacturing production was 32.08%, both the highest of their kinds. In September alone the manufacturing production index stood at 51.81, implying a slight uptrend in industrial production in the following month.

Annual Growth of Industrial Production in Major Asian Economies
Economy	Growth (%)
Taiwan	30.03 (Jan.~Sept.)
Singapore	32.6
South Korea	20.8
Japan	21.6
China	16.6

(From Jan. to Aug.)
Source: MOEA