Manufacturing contracts for the third straight month in August

Mon, 21 Oct 2019

Manufacturing contracts for the third straight month in August

News24
10 Oct 2019, 23:43 GMT+10

South African factory output shrank for a third straight month in August.

Manufacturing production declined 1.8% from a year earlier, compared with a revised 0.7% drop in July, Pretoria-based Statistics South Africa said on Thursday in a report on its website.

The median estimate of 11 economists in a Bloomberg survey was for a 2.5% contraction. Output increased 1.3% in the month.

Key insights

Manufacturing accounts for about 14% of gross domestic product, and output is very sensitive to power-supply constraints. While Eskom hasn't implemented large-scale blackouts since the first quarter, a member of the utility's board, Nelisiwe Magubane, has warned that an uptick in economic growth could lead to a new round of power cuts as Eskom won't be able to respond to an increase in demand for electricity.

The drop in output exacerbates a poor start to the third quarter for an economy that managed to dodge a second recession in consecutive years after it expanded an annualised 3.1% in the three months through June.

The largest declines were in the iron and steel, non-ferrous metal products and machinery sectors.

A gauge measuring sentiment in South Africa's manufacturing industry fell to the lowest level in more than a decade in September. It will probably get worse after the measure tracking expected business conditions in six months' time declined for a fourth month, according to Absa's Purchasing Managers' Index.

South Africa's economy is stuck in its longest downward cycle since 1945, with business confidence at the lowest level in more than three decades.

Watch latest videos

News RELEASES

Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Iran Herald.

More Information

Business

Section

In world first, Qantas flies direct from New York City to Sydney

SYDNEY, Australia - Qantas Flight 7879 touched down at Sydney airport on Sunday morning, ending the longest commercial flight undertaken ...

Jonesy and Amanda named best Australian on-air team

BRISBANE, Australia - Successful WSFM breakfast hosts Jonesy and Amanda (Brendan Jones and Amanda Keller), have been crowned Best On-Air ...

Rejuvenation of century-old De Angelis Carousel in Buffalo starts

BUFFALO, New York - New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Friday announced the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation has begun ...

Chinese man who tried to send U.S. military technology to China jailed

WASHINGTON, DC - A Chinese national has been sent to prison for conspiring to export military and space-grade technology to ...

Dow Jones drops 256 points Friday, dollar shatters

NEW YORK, New York - With the Trump administration in disarray and a growing concern globally that the country's chief ...

Economic growth in China slows to three-decades low

BEIJING, China - The U.S.-China trade war cotnues to batter the Chinese economy, with third quarter GDP slowing to its ...

Middle East

Section

Shelling and clashes in northern Syria continue despite ceasefire

NORTHEASTERN SYRIA - Shelling and clashes in northern Syria on the border with Turkey continue to cause hundreds of people ...

Deaths mount in north Syria in midst of confusion over ceasefire

NORTHEAST SYRIA - A total of sixty-four Syrian rebels fighting alongside Turkish forces have been killed in the offensive which ...

Anti-austerity protests in Lebanon enter fourth day

Beirut [Lebanon], Oct 20 (ANI): Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Lebanon's streets as the anti-government protests in the country entered ...

US Defence Secretary arrives in Afghanistan on unannounced stop

Kabul [Afghanistan], Oct 20 (ANI): US Defence Secretary Mark Esper on Sunday arrived in Afghanistan on an unannounced stop in ...

US bombed own airbase in Syria before withdrawing troops

Damascus [Syria], Oct 20 (Sputnik/ANI): The US armed forces demolished their own airbase in Al-Hasakah province in northeast Syria before ...

Aramco: IPO Timing Depends on 'Market Conditions'

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - Saudi Aramco said Sunday the timing of its long-awaited stock market debut "will depend on ...

Movie Review

The Tree of Wooden Clogs (LAlbero degli zoccoli)

Tree of Wooden Clogs