SHANGHAI – Fixed investment in China's electronics and information industry rose 29% year-over-year to reach $32.8 billion in the first 11 months of 2007, according to figures released by China's Ministry of Information Industry.
TEMPE, AZ – Manufacturing slowed in December, with the PMI dropping 3.1 percentage points to 47.7%, says the Institute for Supply Management. New orders decreased to 45.7%, down 6.9 points, while production dropped 4.6 points to 47.3%.
Inventories were down slightly to 4.5%, a decrease of 1.4 points, and customer inventories were up 2.5 points in December, to 51.5%. Order backlogs were also up, reaching 43%, an increase of 1.5 points.
“The manufacturing sector failed to grow in December ending 10 consecutive months of growth. The recent trend has been toward slower growth. However, December was apparently a very tough month as new orders, production and employment were all below the breakeven mark of 50%. Industries close to the housing market appear to be struggling more than others, and those involved in exports seem to be doing better. Slower demand appears to be more of a problem than excessive inventories based on the respondents' comments,” said ISM spokesman Norbert J. Ore.
The overall economy grew for the 74th consecutive month, says ISM.
YANTAI, CHINA -- Foxconn this week claimed a fire on its Yantai PWB campus has not disrupted production.
However, a Commercial Times report claimed the fire destroyed more than one-third of the Yantai plant's capacity, a reported monthly output of 2.6 million sq. ft.
Although aerospace and defense products are expected to be either out of scope or exempt from the directives, the aerospace and defense industries will be swept along as the larger global electronics industry transitions to lead-free products, according to GEIA.