Capacity usage slightly rises in July

The capacity utilization rate (CUR) in the manufacturing sector increased mildly from 76.8 percent in June to 77.1 percent in July, the data from the Central Bank have shown.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the CUR climbed from 76.6 percent to 76.9 percent.

In the durable consumer goods industry, companies worked at 74.6 percent capacity in July, unchanged from the previous month, while the utilization rate in the nondurable consumer goods sector declined from 73.9 percent in July to 73.2 percent.

In the consumer goods manufacturing sector, the CUR slid from 74 percent to 73.4 percent.

In the capital goods industry, the capacity utilization was 79.6 percent in July, easing from the previous month's 79.2 percent.

Companies in the automotive sector increased their capacity utilization from 81.7 percent in June to 82.6 percent this month.

In the clothing sector, the CUR improved from 77.3 percent to 78.6 percent, showed the Central Bank's regular survey, which collected data from more than 1,700 companies in the manufacturing sector.

Intermediate goods manufacturing companies reported that their CUR ticked down from 76.2 percent to 76.1 percent.

In the food sector, the capacity usage of the companies fell from 74.5 percent to 72.2 percent.