South Africa’s manufacturing sector output fell by 3.3% y/y in volume terms in September after edging up by 0.2% y/y in August due to a lower production in the car manufacturing industry, Statistics South Africa said.  The automotive industry was affected by a strike in August and September. Its output, including the manufacturing of vehicles, fell 49.7% y/y in September after dropping 25% y/y a month earlier. On the other hand, the output of the food and beverages rose 5.1% y/y, production of wood and wood products, paper, publishing and printing went up by 5.2%, glass and non-metallic mineral products output increased by 4.4%, electrical machinery – by 6.4%.

On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, manufacturing output fell 4.7% in September. The seasonally adjusted manufacturing production for the three months to end-September 2013 fell 2.1% compared with the previous three months with 8 of the 10 manufacturing divisions having reported negative growth rates.

The total sales of manufactured products rose 6.7% y/y to ZAR 138.17bn (EUR 10.1bn) in September, compared to 7.2% y/y increase in the previous month, Statistics South Africa said. On a seasonally adjusted basis, manufacturing sales fell by 3.6% m/m in September, but decreased by 2.1% in the three months to end-September compared with the previous quarter. Eight out of the ten manufacturing divisions reported negative growth rates over the three-month period. The August-September manufacturing sales were 9.5% higher from the same period last year.