Turkey's manufacturing capacity continues to rise in September

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - The Turkish manufacturing industry’s capacity utilization rate (CUR) increased month-on-month in September, marking the fourth straight monthly rise, fresh data showed on Friday.

The local manufacturing industry units operated at 78.1% of their capacity this month, up one point from August, according to a Turkish Central Bank survey released on Friday.

Among the main industrial groups, the highest CUR was 79.9% for intermediate goods, while the lowest was 72.5% for food and beverage.

On the sectoral side, the highest capacity usage was in the manufacturing of wood and wood/cork products, excluding furniture, at 84.5% in September, while the lowest was in leather production with 63.7%.

The figures are based on responses to the bank’s business tendency survey by local units operating in the manufacturing industry, the bank said.

The monthly data -- collected from 1,765 companies in September -- does not reflect the bank’s views or predictions, it added.