Business
Hope Dims For Recovery Of Global Manufacture Sector
New setbacks have weakened the prospect for global manufacturing recovery, the UN Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) report said on Monday.
The report made available to newsmen at the UN Headquarters in New York, noted that growth in the sector remained sluggish in the third quarter of 2012.
The report said that with the output rising by 2.2 per cent compared with the same quarter in 2011, the lowest rate since 2009.
It noted that the trend for the first half of 2012 were a mixture of dynamic growth in North America, East Asia and developing countries, and uncertainty in Europe
The UNIDO report said that the manufacturing in African countries, which depended heavily on the export of primary processed commodities to Europe, had also slowed down.
“ Based on limited data, UNIDO estimates that the manufacturing output of African countries as a group rose by just 2.6 per cent. South Africa showed a rise of 2.9 per cent, but Egypt’s output fell by 5.9 per cent,’’ the report stated.
According to the report, the latest production data indicated “a stronger recession in Europe and a weakened recovery in North America and East Asia as well as a sustained slowdown in developing countries.’’
“Industrialised countries as a group have experienced a decrease in industrial production for the first time since 2009.
“UNIDO estimates show that during the third quarter, manufacturing output dropped in all major euro-zone economies compared with the same quarter in the previous year.
“Germany experienced a fall of 1.7 per cent, Italy 6.2 per cent, France 1.9 per cent and the UK 0.9 per cent,’’ the report added.
It said that Austria, Malta and Slovakia were among the few nations registering positive growth.
The report also noted that manufacturing output in Japan decreased by 4.6 per cent, while it grew by 4.1 per cent in the U.S. and by 0.3 per cent in Russia.
It pointed out that compared with industrialised countries, the rate of industrial growth of developing countries remained high and that the impact of global contraction was clear.
The UNIDO report added that the manufacturing output of developing countries grew by 6.6 per cent in the third quarter, compared with the same quarter in 2011, but fell by 2.3 per cent compared with the second quarter.
It further explained that manufacturing output in China grew year-on-year by 9.2 per cent, in Mexico by 4.1 per cent and in Turkey by 3.3 per cent.
It said that India achieved a nominal growth of 0.2 per cent but manufacturing output fell in Latin American countries.