South Africa: Manufacturing activity drops at sharpest rate since October 2022 in March
Manufacturing output fell 2.2% in month-on-month seasonally adjusted terms in March, which was a deterioration from February’s 1.0% decrease. The downturn marked the worst reading since October 2022. Looking at the details of the release, March’s steeper decline was largely driven by a sharper contraction in petroleum, chemical products, rubber and plastic products output, as it fell at the sharpest pace since May 2023. More positively, food and beverages production gained steam.
On an annual basis, manufacturing output nosedived 6.4% in March (February: +4.0% yoy), the worst result since April 2022. Accordingly, the trend pointed down, with the annual average growth of manufacturing production coming in at 1.5%, down from February’s 1.9% reading.