‘Take high production output figures with a pinch of salt’ - StatsSA

Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) has cautioned that high manufacturing output figures – released late last week – should be taken with ‘a pinch of salt’ and are not necessarily a cause for celebration.

Manufacturing production increased by 5.6% year-on-year in July 2015, driven mostly by a 39.6% year-on-year production rise in the automotive industry and a 17.4% year-on-year rise in the metals and machinery industry.
But, said StatsSA, these figures did not indicate high levels of production. They are simply high because of the low index for the same period last year that was characterised by protracted strikes.

Furthermore, despite the high increases, production in the automotive and the metals and machinery industries still has some way to go before it reaches the production levels experienced before the global recession of 2008/2009.
“With stagnant metal prices and current concerns over slow GDP growth, only time will tell when or whether this will occur,” said StatsSA in a statement.