South Africa: Manufacturing production expands at fastest pace since November 2021 in September
Manufacturing production increased 4.9% month on month in seasonally-adjusted terms in September (August: +2.2% mom). September’s result marked the best reading since November 2021. Looking at the details of the release, September’s improvement was partly due to faster growth in petroleum, chemical products, rubber and plastic products production. In addition, food and beverages production gained steam.
On an annual basis, manufacturing production rose at a quicker rate of 2.9% in September (August: +1.7% yoy). Accordingly, the trend improved modestly, with the annual average variation of manufacturing production coming in at minus 0.8% in September, up from August’s minus 1.0% reading.