Manufacturing sector capacity utilization improves

ANKARA

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the capacity utilization rate (CUR) in the key manufacturing sector improved from 75.7 percent in August to 76.9 percent in September, data from the Central Bank have shown.

The unadjusted CUR was 77.3 percent, up from the previous month’s 76.1 percent.

In the consumer goods industry, the CUR edged up from 73 percent in August to 73.3 percent, while the companies in the capital goods producing sector used 78.3 percent of their capacity in September, higher than the 73.5 percent CUR recorded in August.

The CUR in the intermediate goods manufacturing sector climbed from 75.9 percent to 76.2 percent. In the durable goods sector, the capacity usage declined slightly in September compared with August, but the utilization rate increased in the non-durable goods industry.

Separate data from the Central Bank also showed on Sept. 25 that the seasonally adjusted real sector confidence index increased from 104.6 in August to 105.1 in September.

Any index figure above the 100-mark indicates optimism among businesses.

The unadjusted index, however, declined by 0.6 points to 104.4.

Another survey by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) showed that the confidence in the services sector plunged 2 percent in September from August.

The indices for the retail trade and construction sectors, however, rose by 3 percent and 1 percent respectively month-on-month.