HOLIDAY DEMAND: Customers were upbeat about building inventories after the US presidential election was settled and COVID-19 vaccine trials had positive results

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 02, 2020
By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter

The official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month climbed to 61.2, the fastest advance since March 2017, as all sectors reported an upturn in business on the back of holiday demand and optimism over COVID-19 vaccines, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday.

The latest PMI data marked a fifth consecutive month of gains, helped by customers in various parts of the world frontloading orders as the COVID-19 pandemic created shipping difficulties, the Taipei-based think tank said.

“Business in sectors previously hit by the pandemic returned to normal, while growth momentum for electronics suppliers accelerated further,” CIER president Chang Chuang-chang (張傳章) told a news conference in Taipei.

PMI figures seek to show the health of the manufacturing industry, with scores above 50 indicating expansion and values below indicating contraction.    [FULL  STORY]