Manufacturing production falls marginally in May

This comes after positive signs in the Absa Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) which picked up significantly from 44.7 in April to 51.5 in May. A score above 50 indicates an expanding manufacturing sector.

The decrease was mainly due to lower production in petroleum, chemical products, rubber and plastic products which contracted by 8.4%, which reduced the overall figure by 2.1 percentage points, while basic iron and steel, non-ferrous metal products, metal products and machinery increased by 5.2% and contributed one percentage point, and food and beverages which increased by 3.5% and contributed 0.9 of a percentage point.

Investec economist Kamilla Kaplan said she expected manufacturing production to have declined 4.9% year on year in May after a contraction of 4.1% in April. Trading Economics forecasts a marginal increase of 0.2%.

Seasonally adjusted manufacturing production decreased by a marginal 0.3% in May 2017 compared with April 2017.

Source: BDpro