Turkish industrial capacity usage 74.1-pct in Dec.

By Gokhan Ergocun

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s manufacturing industry's capacity utilization rate stood same in December compared with the previous month, official figures showed.

The capacity utilization rate stood at 74.1 percent in the month, the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) announced on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the seasonally-adjusted capacity utilization rate increased by 0.3 percentage points from the last month to 74 percent this month.

On the main industrial groupings side, the highest capacity usage was seen in intermediate goods with 74.50 percent while the lowest was seen in durable consumer goods, standing at 69.60 percent.

Among over 20 sectors, leather and related products manufacturers saw the lowest rate in April -- 55.02 percent -- while wearing apparel sector manufacturers used 80.73 percent of their capacity, which was the highest level, CBRT said.

In December, the data are based on responses given to the Central Bank's "Business Tendency Survey" by some 2,607 companies operating in the manufacturing industry.

In 2017, the average capacity usage in the manufacturing industry was 78.5 percent. Over the past five years, the highest figure was seen last November with 79.9 percent, and the lowest was seen at 73.5 percent in February 2013.