12 November 2014

Third quarter UK manufacturing activity slows.

By PRW
UK manufacturing sales and orders activity slowed in the third quarter, while exports were also down, according to the British Chambers of Commerce’s (BCC) latest quarterly survey, published yesterday. According to the BCC, the decline in the rate of growth in the third quarter for the UK manufacturing sector reinforced its most recent economic forecast which predicted economic growth would slow leading into 2015.
John Longworth, the Chamber’s director-general, said the results for domestic manufacturing and exports in this quarter may be the ‘first alarm bell’ to warn of slower economic growth.
“As we predicted in our economic forecast, the strong upsurge in UK manufacturing at the start of the year appears to have run its course.
“The share of manufacturing firms operating at full capacity fell in the third quarter, signalling that there is more spare capacity in our production sector than previously thought.”
Longworth said the disappointing decline in exports “highlights that we must do something radically different.
“We must waste no time in supporting trade opportunities to overseas markets which offer sustained growth.
“Only a concerted national campaign and sustained investment will allow more UK firms to look beyond our shores for growth opportunities.”
The BCC’s survey found that in manufacturing, two balances fell steeply in the third quarter 2014:domestic sales (+23%, down from +42% in the second quarter) and domestic orders (+24%, down from +41%).
All export balances fell in the third quarter, for both exports and services; manufacturing export sales fell from +30% in the second quarter to +16% in the third.
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