Turkey's manufacturing capacity usage down in May

By Yunus Girgin

ANKARA (AA) - The capacity utilization rate (CUR) in the Turkish manufacturing industry fell on a monthly basis in May, according to official data announced Tuesday.

Local manufacturing industry units operated at 75.3% of their capacity this month, down 0.6 percentage points from March, according to a survey by the Turkish Central Bank.

The CUR figures are based on the responses of local units to the business tendency survey.

The Turkish Central Bank said that 1,746 companies responded to the survey this month, while the monthly data did not reflect the bank's views or predictions.

Among the main industrial groups, the CUR was highest in intermediate goods with 79.1%, while the lowest capacity usage was 69% in investment goods.

On the sectoral side, the highest capacity usage was in the manufacturing of wood and wood/cork products -- excluding furniture -- with 83.6% in the month, while the lowest rate was seen in leather production with 60.3%.