Manufacturing upturn in central region

EMBARGO: 15 December 2006

Manufacturing in the lower half of the North Island and in the Nelson/Tasman region showed healthy growth during November. Business NZ Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI) results released today showed an overall gain of 61.5 for the Central region.

A PMI reading above 50.0 indicates that manufacturing is generally expanding; below 50.0 that it is declining.

"This is the best result for the last couple of years," Paul Winter of EMA Central said today, "and it's much better than at the same time last year."

Central region results showed particularly strong growth in production (66.3), deliveries (61.2) and new orders (62.2).

"The expansion in deliveries and new orders is encouraging," Paul Winter says. "This suggests the growth during November gave manufacturers a good platform moving forward into December. "

On the negative side, the main challenge highlighted in the November survey remains the high exchange rate, which makes it harder for exporters to compete internationally.

The EMA Central results include manufacturers from Nelson, Manawatu, Taranaki, Hawkes Bay, Gisborne and Wellington across the full range of manufacturing types. Companies surveyed range in size from under ten employees to those employing several hundred people.

ENDS