Higher industrial turnover in April

In April the turnover of the Dutch manufacturing industry was up by 5 percent on April 2003. Furthermore the Dutch manufacturing industry was able to hang on to the recovery in production realised in recent months, according to the latest preliminary figures by Statistics Netherlands.

Turnover up in April

In April 2004 the Dutch manufacturing industry raised its turnover by 5 percent compared to April 2003. Half of the increase is due to higher selling prices. Domestic sales were up by 2 percent, which is roughly the same as the increase in domestic selling prices.

Dutch industrial exports increased by 8 percent, while selling prices were almost 3 percent higher. The increase in selling prices is mainly due to rising prices for oil products.

The largest turnover increase in April 2004 was realised by the oil and chemical industry. Furthermore the metal and the paper and printing industries increased their turnover on April 2003. There are also branches of industry that saw their turnover diminish. The greatest drop in turnover was in the Food, beverages and tobacco industry.

Production stable

The production of the Dutch manufacturing industry did not grow further in the period February - April 2004. The seasonally corrected figure shows that production equalled that of the period November 2003 - January 2004. This means the Dutch manufacturing industry was able to hang on to the recovery in production of recent months. The development of the greatly export oriented industry is a major indicator of developments in the Dutch economy as a whole.

Dutch production of investment goods increased in the period February - April 2004. This is in line with the increased investments in the first quarter of 2004. The production of consumer goods fell compared to the period November 2003 - January 2004. After several increases the production of raw materials and semi-manufactured goods has fallen.

Dutch industrial production, corrected for differences in working day patterns, was slightly lower than in the same period of 2003 during February - April 2004. The difference with last year’s production level has decreased substantially in recent months.

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