UPDATE-Turkey: Manufacturing capacity usage at 74.1 pct in Nov.

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s manufacturing industry used 74.1 percent of its capacity in November, the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) reported on Monday.

The capacity utilization rate (CUR) of the manufacturing industry fell by 1.3 percentage point on a monthly basis, down from 75.4 percent in October, the bank survey revealed.

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

The Central Bank said that while nearly 2,100 companies responded to the survey in November, the monthly data does not reflect the CBRT's views or predictions.

Last year, the country's local units operating in manufacturing industry worked at 79.9 percent capacity.

In November, the highest capacity usage among main industrial groups was 75 percent in investment goods, while the lowest CUR was 69.8 percent for durable consumer goods.

According to the CBRT survey, manufacturers of non-durable consumer goods used 74.4 percent of their capacity this month, as the capacity usage in food and beverages was 74.2 percent and it was 73.3 percent in intermediate goods.

On the sectoral side, the highest CUR was recorded in manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products at 83.4 percent in November, and the lowest figure was seen in chemicals and chemical products at 52.3 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 at 79.9 percent, and the lowest was 73.5 percent in February 2013.