Producer confidence improves in April

The long-term average over the past two decades stands at 0.9. Producer confidence reached an all-time high (12.7) in November 2021 and an all-time low (-28.7) in April 2020.

Manufacturers more positive about future output

In April, manufacturers are more positive about their future output. Opinions on their order positions and their stocks of finished product were also more positive compared to the previous month.

All three component indicators of producer confidence are positive. Manufacturers who anticipate output to increase over the next three months outnumber those expecting a decrease. More manufacturers consider their order position to be strong rather than weak, given the time of year. There are fewer manufacturers who define their current stocks of finished products as too large rather than too small.

Confidence highest in electrotechnical and machinery industry

As of April, confidence has grown in almost all manufacturing industries. Confidence is highest in the electrotechnical and machinery industry.

Capacity utilisation rate higher

The industrial capacity utilisation rate stood at 84.2 percent at the start of Q2 2022. This is higher than in the previous quarter, when the rate was 83.6 percent and also higher than one year previously.

At the start of Q2 2022, more than a third of the manufacturers indicated that they were hampered by a shortage of production resources, materials and space. That share has never been so high.

Manufacturing output over 10 percent up in February

In February 2022, the average daily output generated by the Dutch manufacturing industry was up by 10.2 percent on February 2021. Output grew by 7.4 percent in the previous month.

Producer confidence in Germany slightly less negative

Germany is an important foreign market for the Dutch manufacturing industry. In April, German producer confidence according to the Business Climate Index of the IFO Institute climbed again after the plunge it took in the previous month. Companies are somewhat less pessimistic about the coming months. In contrast, they are somewhat less satisfied with their current situations. In February, the average daily output generated by the German manufacturing industry rose by 1.4 percent year on year, as reported by Destatis.