Real sector morale up, but capacity utilization down

ISTANBUL

Turkey’s real sector confidence index, which is based on business tendency surveys, rose 3.6 points to 109.5 this month, the Central Bank announced on Jan. 25.

The business tendency surveys are conducted “to produce indicators that will show short-term tendencies in the manufacturing industry, considering the assessments of the senior managers, about the recent past, current situation and their expectations regarding the future course of business conditions,” the bank said.

Meanwhile, the capacity utilization rate (CUR) of Turkey’s manufacturing industry decreased month on month in January, official data showed yesterday.

The rate decreased by 0.6 percentage points to 77.6 percent this month, compared to December 2021, according to a Central Bank survey.
Among the main industrial groups, the highest CUR was 79.2 for intermediate goods, while the lowest was 72.9 percent for durable consumer goods.

On the sectoral side, the highest capacity usage was in the manufacturing of paper and paper products, at 85 percent this month, while the lowest was in repair and installation of machinery and equipment at 67.2 percent.
The figures are based on responses to the bank’s business tendency survey from local units operating in the manufacturing industry, the bank said.

The monthly data, which was collected from 1,736 companies in January, does not reflect the bank’s views or predictions.

Sectoral indices mixed

Turkey’s sectoral confidence indices posted mixed results this month, according to data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) released yesterday.
Seasonally adjusted confidence indices for services and retail trade were up by 1.2 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively, but dropped for the construction sector by 5 percent in January on a monthly basis.

The index for services rose to 120.2 in January, up from 118.8 in December, TÜİK said.
In the services sector, the business situation and demand-turnover indices also saw monthly increases.
The retail trade confidence index stood at 124.4 in January, up from 121.5.
Business activity-sales over and the current volume of stock sub-indices saw increases in the month.
The construction sector index registered at 85.5 this month, decreasing from 90 in the previous month.
The sub-index of current overall order books increased, while total employment expectations were down.
Sectoral confidence indices calculated from monthly survey results are evaluated within the range of 0-200. These indices indicate an optimistic outlook when above 100 and a pessimistic one below.
TÜİK will release the economic confidence index figures on Jan. 28.

On the same day, Turkey’s crucial tourism sector revenues for last year will also be revealed.
Turkey aims to generate $35 billion in tourism revenues in 2022, Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said on Jan. 13. “Last year, 29 million tourists visited the country and revenues amounted to $24 billion,” he said.