South Africa: Manufacturing activity dips in March
Latest reading: Manufacturing output dropped 2.2% month on month in seasonally adjusted terms in March (February: +0.7% mom s.a.). Looking at the details of the release, March’s drop was largely driven by falls in both petroleum, chemical products, rubber and plastic products plus food and beverages output. Furthermore, production also contracted in the basic iron and steel, non-ferrous metal products, metal products and machinery sub-sector.
On an annual basis, manufacturing output fell 0.8% in March, which was a significantly smaller decline than February’s 3.2% fall. As such, the trend improved, with the annual average variation of manufacturing production coming in at minus 0.9% in March, up from February’s minus 1.4% reading.