The utilisation of production capacity by large manufacturers rose 1.0 percentage point year-on-year in February, according to data released by Statistics SA on Tuesday, 10 May 2011.
The economy's second biggest contributor to GDP increased overall utilisation rates to 79.4%, compared with 78.4% in February 2010.
Motor vehicles, parts, accessories and other transport equipment posted the biggest increase in utilization rates at 6.3 percentage points; followed by the electrical machinery division (4.4 percentage points); and the petroleum, chemical products, rubber and plastic products division (1.5 percentage points).
The highest rate of utilization of production capacity for February 2011 was reported in the electrical machinery division (83.3%); followed by the furniture and 'other' manufacturing division (82.7%); the radio, television and communication apparatus and professional equipment division (82.5%); the wood and wood products, paper, publishing and printing division (81.1%); and the motor vehicles, parts, accessories and other transport equipment division (80.7%).
Stats SA attributed the overall increase in utilization rates to decreases in insufficient demand (-0.4 of a percentage point), shortage of labour (-0.3 of a percentage point), shortage of raw materials (-0.2 of a percentage point) and 'other' reasons such as downtime due to maintenance, lower productivity and seasonal factors (-0.1 of a percentage point).
Source: AFP
