Factory output improves in December from previous month’s figure
But growth in December was not sufficient to prevent the year showing a decline
Manufacturing production grew 2% in December, matching economists’ consensus. This marked an acceleration from November’s 1.7%, Statistics SA reported on Thursday.The growth in factory output in December was in opposition to Absa’s purchasing managers index (PMI), which fell 3.7 points to 44.9 index points in December from 48.6 index points in November.The three-month seasonably adjusted change for December was 1.5%, indicating that the manufacturing sector would boost SA’s fourth-quarter GDP figure.Growth in December was not sufficient to prevent the year showing a decline. In 2017, total manufacturing production decreased 0.5% compared with in 2016.Sectors that contributed to manufacturing growth included petroleum, chemical products, rubber and plastic products, which grew 3.3%, contributing 0.8 of a percentage point to the total.Basic iron and steel, nonferrous metal products, metal products and machinery grew 3.6%, contributing 0.6 of a percentage point.Food and beverages grew ...
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