Turkish manufacturing capacity utilization rate down in October

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - The capacity utilization rate of the Turkish manufacturing sector was at 76.8% in October, down 0.1 percentage point from the previous month.

Official Central Bank figures on Wednesday showed that the highest capacity utilization in October was in investment goods at 78.8%, and the lowest was in non-durable consumer goods at 73%.

On the sectoral side, the highest capacity usage was in the manufacture of paper products and tobacco products, both at 86.2%, while the lowest rate of 64.1% was in leather products.

Capacity utilization rate figures are based on responses to a business tendency survey of local units operating in the manufacturing industry.

The Turkish Central Bank said 1,727 companies responded to the survey this month, and the data did not reflect the bank's views or predictions.