Manufacturing output almost 10 percent down in June

Output decline smaller in almost all industries

In June, almost all industries saw their output decline on an annual basis, except the timber and building materials industry and the tobacco industry. Of the eight largest industries within manufacturing, the repair and installation of machinery industry recorded the strongest output contraction. However, in over three quarter of the industries the decline was smaller than in the previous month.

Downward trend

A more accurate picture of short-term output developments is obtained when figures are adjusted for seasonal effects and the working-day pattern. After adjustments, an increase of 2.1 percent is seen in the manufacturing output between May and June. 

Adjusted for seasonal and working-day effects, manufacturing output is seen to fluctuate significantly. From mid-2014 until the beginning of 2018, the overall trend was upward. Subsequently, the trend has been downward.

Producer confidence continues to rise in July

In July, confidence among Dutch manufacturers improved for the third consecutive month. Expectations on future output improved again and were positive for the first time since March 2020. At the start of Q3 2020, the industrial capacity utilisation rate stood at 76.9 percent, slightly up on the 74.2 percent rate at the start of Q2, but still the second-lowest capacity utilisation rate over 7 years.

Germany is an important foreign market for the Dutch manufacturing industry. According to the Business Climate Index of the IFO Institute, in July producer confidence improved for the third month in a row as well. Both opinions on future output and opinions on the current situation were less negative compared to the previous month. The capacity utilisation rate improved in Germany as well, from 70.4 percent to 74.9 percent.