Taiwan's energy use rose for a fifth month in January after factories boosted production of semiconductors and display panels to meet overseas orders.

Consumption of coal, petroleum, gas, thermal energy and electricity advanced 22 percent from a year earlier to the equivalent of 9.65 million kiloliters of oil, or about 1.96 million barrels a day, according to an e-mailed report from the Bureau of Energy in Taipei yesterday.

Taiwan's industrial output surged 70 percent in January from a year earlier, as export orders rose at a record pace, an economic ministry report showed February 25. The information and electronics industry led the gains as output more than doubled. Taiwan's gross domestic product increased 9.22 percent in the three months through December, snapping a run of five quarters of declines, the statistics bureau said February 22.

Energy consumption by industrial users increased 43 percent in January from a year earlier, according to the energy bureau.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, the world's biggest producer of custom-made chips, reported on February 10 that January sales more than doubled from a year earlier.

Power consumption rose 27 percent to 17.6 billion kilowatt-hours in January, with demand from industrial companies gaining 52 percent from a year earlier.

Taiwan's use of natural gas increased 11 percent to 148.2 million cubic meters, while coal consumption climbed 23 percent to 5.15 million metric tons.

Use of petroleum products rose 21 percent from a year earlier to the equivalent of 4.5 million kiloliters of oil in January, according to the energy bureau.

Utilization rates at crude oil distillation units operated by Formosa Petrochemical Corp and CPC Corp, Taiwan's two oil refiners, fell to 68 percent from 69 percent in December, the energy bureau said. The units separate crude oil into oil products and form the main part of a refinery.

China Daily/Bloomberg News

(HK Edition 03/10/2010 page4)