The first edition in 2013 of Manufacturing outlook shows Britain’s manufacturers have endured a tough start to the year. As expected, orders and output remained around a three year low for the second quarter in a row. Demand conditions remained difficult across a number of markets and Europe again stands out as being especially challenging.
However, there are signs that manufacturers’ could see conditions turn around in the coming quarter with output and orders balances expected to recover back to levels seen in the early part of last year. In particular, there is a notable improvement in the proportion of companies planning for growth in overseas markets in the next three months and, importantly, this trend is fairly widespread across most manufacturing sectors.
Along with a forecast improvement in trading conditions in the months ahead, manufacturers are planning to increase their capital investment and employment levels.
EEF members can download this report by logging in and clicking the download link on the right hand side.