South Africa: Manufacturing gains narrow in February
A preliminary estimate revealed little improvement for the manufacturing sector in February. According to Statistics South Africa, manufacturing output rose by a meager 0.6% year-on-year, decelerating from January’s 0.9% rise (previously reported: +0.3% year-on-year). All told, output gains in the food and beverages; and petroleum and chemicals industries were offset by output losses in the remaining industries. Notably, however, motor vehicle industries’ output growth ticked up.
In month-on-month terms, manufacturing output fell 1.8% in seasonally-adjusted terms (January: -1.6% month-on-month s.a.). Meanwhile, annual average growth in manufacturing output was stable from a month earlier at 1.0%.