Manufacturing capacity usage down in July

ANKARA

The capacity utilization rate for the Turkish manufacturing industry posted a slight decline of 0.3 percentage points to 75.9 percent in July versus June, according to a survey by the Central Bank.

Data indicated that the highest utilization in the month was 76 percent in investment goods, and the lowest rate was 72.7 percent in consumer goods and non-durable consumer goods.

In the durable consumer goods manufacturing sector, companies used 72.9 percent of their capacity.

Broken down by sector, the highest capacity usage was in the manufacture of wood products at 83 percent, while the lowest, at 61.7 percent, was in leather products.

The bank separately reported that the real sector confidence index retreated from 102.8 in June to 100.3 in July, declining for a third month in a row.

Any figure above the 100 mark indicates optimism among businesses.

The sub-index for companies’ assessment of general business situation declined from 92.7 to 86.4.

The index for export orders in the next three months fell from 116 to 115, while the gauge of current orders was down from 82.1 to 81.3 points.

Meanwhile, a survey conducted by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) showed that business morale in all key industries deteriorated in July.

The business confidence index in the services sector was down 1.1 percent month-on-month after falling 1.5 percent in June.

In retail, the index, which dropped 2.6 percent in the previous month, declined 1.5 percent.

The monthly decline in the confidence index in construction accelerated from 0.5 percent to 0.9 percent.