More turnover for the Dutch manufacturing industry in July

The turnover of the Dutch manufacturing industry in July was up by 7 percent on July 2003. This was mainly due to higher selling prices. Dutch industrial production slipped somewhat but is still higher than a year ago, according to the latest preliminary figures by Statistics Netherlands.

Turnover in July up on July 2003

In July 2004 the Dutch manufacturing industry booked 7 percent more in turnover than a year ago. On the domestic market the manufacturing industry sold 6 percent more, while industrial exports were up by 7 percent.

Turnover in July 2004 was positively influenced by selling prices, which were almost 6 percent higher than in July 2003. The higher selling prices are mainly caused by rising oil prices. Moreover the annual shift in regional holiday patterns had a positive effect on turnover. Then again July 2004 had a working day less than in 2003. Statistics Netherlands estimated that this had a negative effect of 3 percent.

Production decreasing slightly 

The production of the Dutch manufacturing industry fell slightly in the period June–July 2004. The seasonally corrected figure shows that production was down by 0.6 percent on the period April–May 2004. Both the production of raw materials and semi-manufactured goods and of investment and consumption goods fell in the period June–July 2004. Developments in industrial production give a quick, first indication of how the Dutch economy is developing.

Compared to a year ago, production in the period June–July 2004 was higher. Corrected for differences in working day patterns production was up by 0.4 percent than in the period June–July 2003.

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