Showing posts with label finished goods. Show all posts
Showing posts with label finished goods. Show all posts

Friday, 29 June 2012

The Business Climate Indicator (BCI) of the European Commission Director General of Economic and Financial Affairs decreased by 0.15 points to -0.94. The decline was mainly driven by managers' negative assessments of production expectations, past production, overall order books and export order books. Their assessments of stocks of finished products remained unchanged.

Tuesday, 13 July 2010

Trade In Services Surplus Slightly Down

The Balance of Payments bulletin from the ONS for the first quarter of 2010 reported a current account deficit of £9.6bn as compared with a current account surplus of £0.5bn in Q4 2009. It is mainly due to a lower surplus on income, from £8.1bn to £3.8bn, and an increase of £1bn in deficit on current transfers, an increase of £0.5bn in trade in goods and a lower surplus on trade in services of £0.5bn to £12.5bn. The current account balance is equivalent to -2.7% of GDP.

The deficit in trade in goods and services equals -2.5% of GDP and the surplus on income is 1.1% of GDP. Trade in goods is in deficit by £21.7bn. Exports went up by £1.6bn and imports by £2.2bn. The semi-manufactured goods trade deficit increased by £0.8bn to £1.6bn and finished manufactured goods increased their deficit by £0.2bn to £13.5bn. The deficit in trade in oil narrowed by £0.4bn. The trade deficit in food, beverages and tobacco decreased by £0.3bn to £4.2bn.

The surplus on trade in services was £12.5bn, sightly lower than Q4 2009. Exports of services fell by £0.7bn to £39.1bn mainly due to a fall in the export of financial services, royalties and license fees and construction services. Imports fell by £0.2bn due to decreases in government services and construction services. These were partially offset by an increase in the import of financial services of £0.3bn.

The surplus on income fell to £3.8bn from £11.9bn in the previous quarter. Income credits were £41.5bn due to increased earnings on direct investment abroad. Income debits increased by £8.2bn to £37.6bn due to earnings on increased direct investment in the UK. Portfolio investment in the UK earnings increased by £1bn from £2.4bn to £3.4bn. UK earnings on portfolio investment abroad fell by £0.1bn to £11.6bn. The compensation of employees was £0.2bn. The surplus on direct investment income was down £6.6bn to £10bn. Earnings on direct investment abroad were £22bn due to monetary financial institutions going to profit from loss and increased earnings by financial intermediaries. Foreign earnings on direct investment in the UK increased by £7.7bn to £11.9bn. Foreign earnings on portfolio investment in the UK rose by £1bn to £15.1bn. Income on reserve assets was £0.2bn.

The current transfers deficit increased to £4.3bn due to an increase in UK's payments to EU institutions. The capital account showed an increase of £0.3bn to leave a surplus of £1.2bn.

Friday, 30 April 2010

Business Investment Down In Euro And EU27 Areas

The gross investment rate of non-financial corporations in the EU27 zone was 20.3% in Q4 2009 from 20.6% in Q3 according to Eurostat. In the eurozone the rate was 20.4% in Q4 from 20.7% in the previous quarter. The gross investment rate of non-financial corporations in the eurozone fell as gross fixed capital formation fell 0.9% and value added grew 0.6%. Eurozone stocks of materials, supplies and finished goods continued to decrease for the fourth quarter in a row.

The business profit share of non-financial corporations in EU27 was 37.1% in Q4 2009 from 36.9% in 2008. The eurozone profit share was 37.9% from 37.5% in Q3 2009. The eurozone profit share of non-financial corporations increased as value added grew 0.6%. Wage costs plus taxes minus subsidies on production was unchanged.

Thursday, 22 April 2010

UK Order Books Looking Better

The manufacturing sector looks to be improving but profits are threatened by rising costs according to the latest Industrial Trends survey from the CBI. The first three months to April show that orders are rising for British made goods overseas but as order books are still recovering from 30 year lows, total order books are still below normal.

The growth in orders is expected to continue over the next few months and production is expected to increase along with it. It is reflected in business confidence which continues to improve. Average unit costs are rising and though domestic prices were stable prices may increase in the next three months. Most firms say they working below capacity.

Firms have continued to de-stock but levels of finished goods have fallen in the quarter and are expected to stabilise in the next as is work in progress as the decline in raw materials slows down. Credit and finance are expected to continue to limit output over the next three months and even constrain exports. A majority of firms have plans to invest in training and retraining and in innovation.

Tuesday, 19 January 2010

UK Trade Deficit Cut By £0.2bn.

The seasonally adjusted trade deficit in goods and services was cut by £0.2bn from £3.1bn in October to £2.9bn in November. The deficit on trade in goods was £6.8bn compared with £7bn and the surplus on services was unchanged at £3.9bn. The volume of exports excluding oil and erratics was 0.2% up but the volume of imports was down 0.9% in November. Export prices fell 0.4% and import prices fell by 0.6% on October.

In terms of value, total exports were unchanged at £20.2bn though total imports fell by £0.2bn to £27bn. Exports of cars fell by £26m while imports of cars increased by £96m, but exports of consumer goods other than cars increased by £131m and imports of consumer goods other than cars fell by £227m. Exports of chemicals increased by £96m and imports fell by £138m on November compared with October 2009.

In the three months ended November 2009 the trade deficit in goods increased by £1.6bn to £20.7bn compared with a deficit of £19.2bn in the previous three months to August. Total exports rose to £59.8bn from £55.7bn and total imports rose to £80.6bn. Exports of chemicals increased by £713m and imports by £1,485m. Intermediate goods exports increased by £612m and imports by £974m. Exports of cars increased by £609m and imports by £1,086m.

In terms of volume, in November 2009 compared with October 2009, exports increased by 0.2% and imports decreased by 0.9% compared with October. Food, drink and tobacco exports increased by 2.7% and imports fell by 0.9%, basic materials exports fell by 8.8% and imports by 6%. Semi-manufactured goods increased by 0.9% and imports fell by 1.9% of which chemicals exports went up by 3.3% and imports fell by 4.1%. There was no change in the volume of finished manufactured goods overall but within the classification the volume of exports of consumer goods went up by 9.6% and imports fell by 4.5%, intermediate goods went up by 1.1% and imports by 2.4%.

In the three months ending in November, the volume of exports of goods rose by 5.5% and the volume of imports rose by 6.9% compared with the previous three months to August. The volume of exports of basic materials increased by 10% and imports by 9.2%. Finished manufactured goods volumes totalled a 5.8% increase in exports and 7.1% increase in imports of which exports of cars increased by 16.2% and imports by 25.5%, intermediate goods export volumes increased by 5.7% and imports by 7.6% and capital goods export volumes increased by 6.6% and imports by 5.1%.

Export prices fell by 0.4% and import prices by 0.6% in November compared with October leading to an increase in the terms of trade. Export prices, excluding the oil price effect, fell by 0.8% and import prices by 1%. In the three months to November export prices rose by 2.7% and import prices by 2.3% on the previous quarter likewise leading to an increase in the terms of trade. Export prices, excluding the oil price effect, rose by 2.2% and import prices by 1.8%.

Trade in services remained unchanged in November with a surplus of £3.9bn. Exports rose by £0.2bn and imports by £0.2bn. Total exports were unchanged at £38.8bn although imports rose slightly by £0.1bn to £27.2bn.

Thursday, 23 July 2009

Manufacturing Decline Slowing Down

The CBI quarterly Industrial Trends survey suggests the rate of decline in manufacturing may be slowing but a return to growth is not within sight for the next quarter at least. Firms are continuing to run down stocks and stocks of finished goods running down at the fastest rate for over 50 years. However, stock adequacy is such that firms are planning to continue to run them down at the same rate next quarter. Export demand also continues to fall despite the weakness of the pound and price cuts. Firms also reported employment continues to fall.