UK manufacturers see solid growth in production ahead

摘要

UK manufacturers expect strong output growth in the coming quarter, backed by healthy order books, says a CBI report. Of the 432 manufacturers responding to the CBI's latest monthly Industrial Trends Survey, 22% described total order books as above normal, while 24% said they were below normal. The resulting balance of -2% is well above the long-term average and an improvement on the previous month's balance of -11%. The volume of export order books also picked up in May, but the gain was more modest, with 19% of firms saying they were above normal, and 22% below normal. That gives a resulting balance of -3%, which compares with -6% in April. This figure is also significantly above the long-term average and consistent with the trend of improvement that has been evident over the past two years. With demand steadily improving, manufacturers predict solid output growth in line with previous months; a balance of +20% of firms expect output to rise in the next three months, compared with +22% in April.