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UK manufacturing witnesses encouraging growth

The UK manufacturing industry is improving, thanks to encouraging growth in total and export order books in February, following a period of weak growth in 2011.

The CBI now expects solid output growth over the next 3 months, news which will be welcomed by manufacturers across the country.

Almost 500 manufacturers responded to the monthly Industrial Trends Survey, a fifth of which said that their total order books were above average, in contrast to 23% who said they were below. This left the industry with a balance of -3%, which is well above the previous average of -18%.

Ian McCafferty, CBI chief executive adviser said: “The improvement in manufacturing conditions seen in January has been sustained this month.

“Both domestic and overseas demand have strengthened, underpinning solid expectations for output growth, which is encouraging news, given the particularly difficult period for business in the final quarter of 2011.”

Export orders also witnessed a similar upturn, as 22% of respondents stated that levels were above normal. 24% said that levels were below expectations, giving a balance of -2%, compared to the long-run average of -21%.

15% of manufacturers now anticipate that their production volumes will rise over the next 3 months as a result of the improvement in orders. However, expectations for output price inflation at 10% were broadly similar to those in the January survey, which registered figures of 13%.

This is still higher than the long-run average of 1%, expectations are still lower than those during the same period a year ago.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .