Business morale, manufacturing capacity usage increase in October
ANKARA
Both business morale and the capacity utilization rate in manufacturing improved in October, separate data from the Central Bank showed on Oct. 27.
The seasonally adjusted Real Sector Confidence Index increased by 1.2 points from the previous month, reaching 102 in October.
The data indicates that confidence in the real sector strengthened in October, supported by expectations of higher production, investment and exports, despite some weakness in recent order volumes.
Survey responses showed that assessments regarding current finished goods inventories, current total orders, expected employment over the next three months, production volume, overall outlook, fixed capital investment and export orders all contributed positively to the index, the Central Bank said.
In contrast, evaluations of total orders over the past three months had a negative impact.
The unadjusted Real Sector Confidence Index also posted a modest gain, rising 0.6 points from the previous month to 100.8.
Separately, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) unveiled on Oct. 27 the confidence indices for the services, retail trade and construction sectors.
In October, seasonally adjusted confidence indices pointed to diverging sectoral dynamics. The services sector index slipped 0.3 percent to 110.7, after falling 0.1 percent in September, while retail trade posted a strong rebound, rising 3.7 percent to 113.2, accelerating from a 0.4 percent monthly increase.
In contrast, the construction sector saw a sharp decline, with its index falling 5.3 percent to 83.7 compared to the previous month, when the index surged 3.6 percent.
The capacity utilization rate for the Turkish manufacturing industry rose to 74 percent in October, a Central Bank survey also showed on Oct. 27.
The figure was up 0.2 percentage points monthly from 73.8 percent in September.
The highest utilization in October was 75 percent for intermediate goods, up 0.1 percentage points from September.
Meanwhile, the lowest utilization rate was 69.3 percent in durable consumer goods, down one percentage point from August.
Broken down by sector, the highest capacity usage was in the manufacture of tobacco products at 85.7 percent, while the lowest, 63.9 percent, was in machinery and equipment.
