Dutch manufacturers more pessimistic than ever

The mood among Dutch manufacturers has deteriorated further recently. In February, producer confidence dropped by 2.9 points to -22.9. This is the lowest level since 1985, the first year the producer confidence index was calculated on a monthly basis.

Producer confidence consists of three component indicators: expected output in the next three months, producers’ opinions on their order books and their opinions on their stocks of finished products.

In February, manufacturers were more pessimistic with respect to their future output than one month previously. Their opinions on their order positions also deteriorated. Over the past two decades, Dutch manufacturers have not been this negative with respect to their order positions. Manufacturers were as negative as in January about their stocks of finished products.

Manufacturers were extremely negative about employment in their branch. They also indicated that the value of orders received had declined over the past three months. The order position index (orders received expressed in months of work) dropped from 104.4 in January to 102.2 in February.

Producer confidence in manufacturing industry