Turkey's industrial capacity usage up in August

By Jeyhun Aliyev

ANKARA

Turkey’s manufacturing industry capacity utilization rate rose slightly at 77.8 percent in August, the Turkish Central Bank announced on Monday.

The capacity utilization rate (CUR) saw a 0.7-percentage point monthly gain from 77.1 percent in July, according to the bank.

The bank stated that the CUR figures are based on the responses given to its business tendency survey by local units operating in the manufacturing industry.

It added that while some 2,607 companies responded to the survey in August, the monthly data does not reflect the bank’s views or predictions.

Among over 20 sectors, the highest capacity usage was seen in the manufacturing of coke and refined petroleum products with 88.4 percent in August, while the lowest CUR was seen in the leather and related products sector, with 59.7 percent.

On the main industrial side, the highest CUR was 79.7 percent for intermediate goods, while the lowest capacity usage was 71 percent in food and beverages.

According to the central bank data, manufacturers of investment goods used 78.9 percent of their capacity this month while the CUR in consumer goods was 73 percent -- durable goods at 71.6 percent, and non-durable goods at 73.3 percent.

Last year, the average capacity usage in the manufacturing industry was 78.5 percent. Over the past five years, the highest CUR was seen last November with 79.9 percent, and the lowest was 73.5 percent in February 2013.