Manufacturers showed a less negative outlook about expected output and current stocks of finished products for the next three months. This shift in sentiment was observed across half of the major manufacturing industries, including textile, clothing, and leather sectors.

Despite the slight uptick, producer confidence in October 2023 remained below the long-term average of 1. The metric had reached an all-time high of 12.7 in November 2021, while its all-time low was recorded at minus 28.7 in April 2020, as per CBS.

Manufacturers expressed less positive feelings about their order positions. However, one component indicator was positive, as the majority of manufacturers regard their order position to be strong rather than weak for this time of year.

For September 2023, the prices of Dutch-manufactured products declined by an average of 3 per cent year-on-year. This was an improvement from August, where prices were 5 per cent lower than the previous year. Relative to August, manufacturing output prices saw an increase of 1.4 per cent in September. Export market prices rose by 2 per cent, and domestic market prices increased by 0.8 per cent.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DP)