AI boom reshapes Taiwan’s land market and industry — Taipei Times
In Taiwan, the growth of the artificial intelligence and semiconductor sectors is increasing demand for industrial land, driving industrial expansion toward the south of the island and intensifying pressure on agricultural land. This is stated in a Taipei Times column on changes in land use and industry from Miaoli County to Pingtung County.
As an example, the publication cites the sale of a factory and land plot belonging to snack producer Kuai Kuai in Zhongli District of Taoyuan City. Taoyuan Confederation of Trade Unions Secretary-General Tracy Sung said that rising values, including those of industrial land, are prompting business owners to sell plots to companies in the AI and semiconductor manufacturing sectors.
Industrial expansion southward
According to Sinyi Realty’s June report, Miaoli County had the most active industrial land market. An April report by Colliers International also said that prices for such plots are rising partly due to semiconductor- and AI-related demand, while industrial expansion is increasingly shifting southward.
Construction of a specialized park for the semiconductor industry supply chain began in Pingtung in June. The Southern Science Park covers areas in Chiayi, Tainan, Kaohsiung and Pingtung. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co is building advanced chip packaging plants at the Chiayi Science Park. National Science and Technology Council Minister Wu Cheng-wen said that the government is considering developing a corridor of technology and semiconductor companies from Pingtung to Hsinchu.
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Decline of traditional manufacturing
Citing CommonWealth Magazine, the column’s author notes that traditional businesses in Taiwan are closing due to competition from the PRC and new tariffs imposed by the administration of US President Donald Trump. Small companies in the machinery, metalworking and sports industries are closing in the industrial area known as the “Golden Valley” between Taichung and Changhua. According to data cited in the column, structural decline is also being observed in older industrial zones in the north of the island.
The author also draws attention to the loss of arable land as it is converted for industrial use. A 2023 study published in the Journal of Environmental Management found that after stricter zoning rules prohibited the installation of solar panels on agricultural plots smaller than 660 square meters, prices for such land fell by 21.8%. Researcher Justin Kollar wrote in his work on the semiconductor industry that local authorities rapidly rezoned agricultural areas, seeking revenue from land conversion and industrial development.
Economy Minister Kung Ming-hsin said last month that the government may revise its forecast for average annual electricity demand growth, which was estimated in June at 2.5% per year through 2035, in light of a high-demand scenario.
