Producer confidence reached highest level in two years

The mood among Dutch manufacturers improved substantially in October. The producer confidence indicator rose from - 2.8 in September to - 0.5 in October, the highest level since October 2012.

Producer confidence consists of three component indicators: manufacturers’ opinions on their order positions, their opinions on their stocks of finished products and the projected output over the next three months. Manufacturers were much more optimistic about their future output and they were also less negative about their order positions than in September. Their opinions on their stocks of finished products, on the other hand, deteriorated marginally.

Producer confidence in manufacturing industry

The Dutch manufacturing industry used 78.4 percent of its production capacity in October. The capacity utilisation rate was higher than in July (77.4 percent). This is the second quarter in a row, in which the capacity utilisation rate improved.

Capacity utilisation rate

More figures can be found in dossier Business cycle

For more information on economic indicators, the reader is referred to the Economic Monitor.