Producer confidence improves slightly in July

Producer confidence is significantly higher than the long-term average of 1.0. Producer confidence reached an all-time high (12.7) in November 2021 and an all-time low (-28.7) in April 2020.

Manufacturers more positive about their stocks

Manufacturers’ opinions on stocks of finished products are more positive than in the previous month. Their opinions on future output remain the same and their opinions on order positions are less positive.

All component indicators of producer confidence are positive: manufacturers who anticipate output to increase over the next three months outnumber those expecting a decrease. In addition, the majority consider their order position to be strong rather than weak, given the time of year. More manufacturers define their current stock of finished products as too small rather than too large.

Confidence highest in electrotechnical and machinery industry

As of July, confidence is highest again in the electrotechnical and machinery industry. Just as in the petroleum and chemical industry and in the metal industry, confidence is also higher than in the previous month. In the other manufacturing industries, entrepreneurs are less positive than in June.

Capacity utilisation rate unchanged

The industrial capacity utilisation rate stood at 84.2 percent at the start of Q3 2022. This is the same rate as in the previous quarter.

At the start of Q3 2022, more than 30 percent of the manufacturers indicated that they were hampered by staff shortages. This share has never been so high since the start of the survey in 2012.

Manufacturing output 10 percent up in May

In May 2022, the average daily output generated by the Dutch manufacturing industry was up by 10.0 percent on May 2021. Output grew by 14 percent in the previous month.

Producer confidence in Germany plummets

Germany is an important market for the Dutch manufacturing industry. In July, German producer confidence according to the Business Climate Index of the IFO Institute plummeted. Companies were considerably more pessimistic about the coming six months and assessed the current situation as slightly less good. In May, the average daily output generated by the German manufacturing industry contracted by 1.4 percent year on year, as reported by Destatis.