Vietnamese Taiwanese Businesses: War Impacts Soaring Freight Costs, Orders Temporarily Increase Instead of Decrease Due to Inventory Rush

AI Summary (NQ-processed)

Vietnam's CPI rose 4.65% year-on-year in March, a five-year high, driven by global fuel and construction material costs. Middle East conflicts caused transport prices to surge, with gasoline and diesel up 29.72% and 57.03% respectively. Shen Hsien-yu, GM of Wei Hsin Printing & Packaging, noted freight costs increased 125% and petrochemicals nearly doubled, raising overall costs by 10%. Despite this, his company's orders grew by 30% as clients rushed inventory. S&P Global reported significant increases in manufacturing input costs and sales prices due to the Middle East war. Vietnam's March manufacturing PMI dropped to 51.2, but output is expected to grow over the next year.