Optimism reigns among manufacturers

Producer confidence in the manufacturing industry reached 9.0 in October 2006. This is the highest value since 1985, when Statistics Netherlands started this statistic. Producer confidence has increased sharply since the summer of 2005.

Producer confidence consists of three indicators: expected production in the next three months, opinions about the stock of finished products and opinions about the order position.

Dutch producers were more positive about their future production than they were in September. Their opinions about the stock of finished products also improved slightly. The satisfaction about the order position of the manufacturers is still great despite a slight decrease.

The satisfaction of manufacturers is due to the gradual increase in the number of orders. The index on the order position (orders received expressed in months of work) reached 104.7 in October. This is the highest value since 1993.

For the second month in a row the number of entrepreneurs expecting their workforce to increase exceeds the number of entrepreneurs expecting their workforce to decrease over the next three months. In the previous five years most entrepreneurs expected their workforce to decrease.

In most branches of industry the mood improved from October on September. The data on the branches from the economic survey will be presented on Wednesday 25 October (2 P.M.) in the Industry monitor, elsewhere on the CBS website. 

Producer confidence in manufacturing industry