Manufacturing firms perform better in second quarter
Manufacturing firms perform better in second quarter
A large number of enterprises reported stable and better production and business in the second quarter of this year and are hopeful of an even better third quarter.
This was said by the General Statistics Office (GSO).
Some 82.6 per cent of the processing and manufacturing enterprises said they enjoyed stable business in the second quarter of this year. Meanwhile, 17.4 per cent of the firms said they had to struggle more than in the previous quarter.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) firms had the highest business confidence, with 85.7 per cent believing that their business improved and stabilised during April-June. The percentage of State-owned and private companies was 80.8 per cent and 81.6 per cent, respectively.
According to GSO, enterprises maintained a positive outlook for their business prospects in the third quarter, with 88.5 per cent of the firms upbeat about their performance. However, some 11.5 per cent of the firms said they would face more difficulties in doing business than in the previous quarter.
FDI firms have the highest business confidence for the third quarter, with 91.3 per cent believing that their business will improve and stabilise. Private companies too are fairly optimistic, with 87.6 per cent optimistic of positive business results, while State-owned companies havethe lowest confidence at 86.1 per cent.
GSO said competitiveness was touted as the dominant factor during the second quarter, which had enormous impacts on production and business activities. Some 59.4 per cent of the firms said that they were affected by a competitive edge, while 46.2 per cent believed that underperformed business was spurred by low demands in the domestic market.
Financial issues, shortage of qualified labourers, high deposit rate, lack of materials and out-of-date technology and equipment were the other factors challenging local businesses in the second quarter.
Regarding the volume of orders in the second quarter, 82.8 per cent of the firms reckoned that the number was higher than the previous quarter while 17.2 per cent said that they faced less orders than the first quarter. Some 84.8 per cent of the enterprises affirmed that they had received more orders from overseas markets.
Product inventory in the second quarter was reported to decrease or remain stable among 81.7 per cent of the domestic companies.
The statistics were compiled based on the latest survey of the quarterly business performance trend in 6,500 industrial processing and manufacturing companies across 63 provinces and State-run cities.
