Financial News: UK Manufacturing Orders Improve In August: CBI

UK Manufacturing Orders Improve In August: CBI

(RTTNews) - UK manufacturing order books registered a significant improvement in August as export orders recovered to "normal" for the first time in over four years, the latest Industrial Trends Survey from the Confederation of British Industry showed Thursday.

The order book balance rose sharply to -25 percent in August from -45 percent in July. Nonetheless, the balance remained below their long-run average of -14 percent.

The export order books balance posted zero compared to -33 percent in July. This was the first time that export order books were reported as "normal", CBI said.

In the three months to August, output continued to fall but the indicator rose to -17 percent from -24 percent in the quarter to July. A net 7 percent expects output volumes to fall again in the three months to November. The score hit the highest since the beginning of the Iran war.

Further, expectations for average selling price inflation remained elevated in August, as the index rose to 22 percent from 11 percent in July.

CBI Senior Economist Cameron Martin said it is too soon to know whether the improvement in order books mark the beginning of a sustained shift in conditions, particularly given ongoing cost pressures reported by manufacturers, with selling price expectations in survey picking up again and remaining well above historical norms.

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