Industrial

摘要

After five consecutive years of output growth within the Industrial sector, the sector looks set for a period of contraction near term. Recent years have seen considerable investment within the sector and this has led to a significant increase in output in the factories and warehouses sub-sectors. As a result, there is little scope for additional growth within the sector. Furthermore, the economic slowdown is likely to exacerbate the low demand for industrial buildings but, as yet, has had relatively little impact on manufacturing output and retail sales directly. However, the slowdown has restricted output price growth at a time when input prices have increased sharply.This has led to a decrease in profit margins throughout manufacturing and retail, which would be expected to impact negatively upon the demand for factories and warehouses, particularly at a time when the economy is slowing and manufacturers are under increasing cost pressures.